Connected
by JoeKingV1
Summary: "We are all connected." This is a story I've been thinking on for a while. This will be a crossover story. Starts off as Sonic/Vesperia, but will later involve other series. UPDATE: Rating has been changed to M to be safe because of Chapter 14.
1. A Tale Begins

_**Okay, this is a story I've basically been thinking on for a while now. It's gonna crossover a number of series, basically some of my old favourites. This is rated T but it might increase in later chapters. There also MIGHT be lemons in the future, but I'm not sure.**_

_**Joe the Hedgehog is copyrighted to me, Nexus is copyrighted to a friend of mine. Every other character are copyrighted to their respectful owners, I do not own them. And this story is not made for profit in any way.**_

_**I hope you enjoy.**_

_**UPDATE: Because of the first review I got, I should actually explain a few things.**_

_**- It would help to understand the Sonic the Hedgehog and Tales of Vesperia series, aswell as future series that will be in the story. (I will note them when they come up)**_

_**- Joe is my character, unfortunately he does not really have a backstory as I am not good at that kind of thing, not to mention it's not easy to think of something original.**_

_**- Nexus is a character that a friend of mine owns, he DOES have a backstory and I might explain it in a later chapter to make you understand him better. (Something admittedly I should have done in the first place)**_

_**- This is far from a masterpiece and there are much better writers than me, but I'm trying on this. But that doesn't mean I won't accept critque. Anything that'll help me I appreciate.**_

_**That is all for now, I hope you enjoy the story. And thank you for your time.**_

_**UPDATE 2: To more advice from my first reviewer, I've updated my bio with infortmation about my character Joe, with some explanation about what he's like. I'll get one for Nexus next time my friend is on.  
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><p><em><strong>Chapter 1: A Tale Begins<strong>_

Darkness. All he saw was darkness. But this wasn't a bad darkness. This was a good kind, a very good kind. Lips were pressed together in passion, soft lips pressed onto his own. The darkness was from a pair of closed eyes.

_A dream?_

It must have been, but he didn't complain. But when he slowly opened one eye to see the lucky person who was showing their passion for him, he couldn't tell who it was. It was a blur, he couldn't pick anything out, only the colour of flesh. But again, who was he to complain?

His eye closed again, accepting this spontaneous kiss.

_Hey..._

He thought he heard something. Nah, it's a dream. He could just 'dream' it away if he wanted to.

_Hey Joe..._

His name. Now his interest rose, but again, he paid it no interest. He tried harder now to erase the now slightly louder voice from his mind as he continued his response to the kiss. He wasn't going to have this ruined for him, no way.

"Would you wake up you fucking idiot?"

His eyes sprang wide open and he sat up in an instant. _It was a dream..._ He lifted the shades from his eyes and rubbed them with a yawn, feeling a little... iffy for some odd reason. Different was maybe a better word for it, but he paid it no mind, before he turned to the source of the voice.

"I was enjoying myself there, and you had to go and ruin it didn't you?"

"Right now, I'm not in the mood to hear about your made-up wet dreams. We have a problem." The other one stroked his little indigo goatee a little as he looked at he watched his friend yawn again to wake up faster.

"And what was so important that you had to burst into my room and wake me up? Robots? Demonic creatures? Stupid clones, what?"

His indigo friend let out a sigh. "Do you even know where we are right now?"

"Yes, we're in my room in my apartment where you stayed the night with everyone else. Why is that so important?"

"Open your eyes."

The yellow hedgehog was now confused. "Uh... why? I know what my room looks like. Unless you're naked, then I prefer my sight thanks, I'd rather not lose that gift."

His friend was clearly annoyed now. Hell, he didn't have a clue how his friend didn't even notice this beforehand, he had already opened his eyes once. Was he just stupid after waking up or something? "Just do it god dammit."

"Fine..." He slowly opened them, but this time, paying attention to what he saw. His eyes shut a little in reaction to the sunlight. Wait, sunlight? His bed doesn't point to his window, how is there sunlight in his room? He opened them again, slowly. This wasn't his room, far from it actually. They were... outside?

"How... how did we get outside? I don't remember leaving my..."

His friend interrupted.

"We didn't. Well, we didn't leave it to be outside your place. We apparently left it to a WHOLE OTHER PLANET!"

God, he did not like being shouted at after being woken up. He rubbed his eyes a little to adjust himself. "Alright alright, calm down. We're not on another planet, we're just somewhere other than Station Square. We're bound to find a station or something."

The indigo echidna sighed in annoyance. "You wanna know how I know we're on a different planet? Because I recognise this place."

His friend snorted at him. "Oh really? Alright then Michael Palin, where are we?" He laughed to himself as he wondered if his friend took up drinking all of a sudden.

He pulled the hedgehog up by his collar strap and made him look around. "You've played as many games as me, look at this place. Tell me what it reminds you of."

The hedgehog sighed and looked around. Nice day, clear sky. The rough path they were standing on seemed clear enough. The hills behind them seemed big, aswell as the Halure Tree to the right of them. The grass was green enough to see what the place was taken care pretty we- wait, did he just say the 'Halure Tree to the right of them'? He snapped his head round to look again. His eyes weren't deceiving him; he was looking at the Halure Tree in the distance.

His indigo friend answered for him. "Exactly. Their world."

"How in the fu..."

"I have no idea." He stroked his goatee again. The hedgehog remained confused, he slowly looked around again, taking in all the new sights. And he didn't like it. The yellow hedgehog was freaking out, he was in a video game, away from his friends and everyone else. He checked to see if anything changed on his person. He felt his sword handle on his belt, and his custom-made guns on his back under the jacket. He checked his pockets and pulled out one of his pride and joys; his iPod. "Thank god..."

His indigo friends' eyes rolled as he watched him almost have a panic attack right infront of him. He had already double-checked himself, though he was confused himself as to how they both ended up in this other world.

The hedgehog's eyes widened as he thought of something else. Not this, nothing could have happened to this surely, he'd be ruined if this had changed. He quickly turned around to the puzzlement of the echidna as he then moved his hands to his jeans and held the front of them out a little.

The echidna's eyes widened. He wasn't checking...

"Oh thank god, this is still the same size."

He was... the most pathetic bastard he had ever seen. Because that matters so much right now doesn't it?

"I would've just lost my will to live right then if this regressed..."

"God, I wonder why I deal with you sometimes. I really do."

The hedgehog sighed to himself as he put his hands on his hips and again looked around.

"Okay, so we have somehow been transported to a world we've been playing a game on for the past two years. Everyone else is nowhere to be seen, so we're on our own. And any moment now we could have monsters pop out to attack us, and we have no idea if we can even do anything to them, nor do I know if I can even use my energy here."

The echidna stood next to the yellow hedgehog as he removed his trenchcoat, holding it over his shoulder as it seemed to be getting a bit hotter all of a sudden. "Well, we have few options. There's Halure there, where we could try to get some information, however useless that might seem. And that's if they don't freak out and instantly assume we're monsters as we're walking talking animals."

"And the other option?"

"We go to Capua Nor and just rest at the inn there while we figure out what's happened. Either way, we're gonna risk facing monsters and freaking people out. Not to mention we don't know if this is taking place during the events of the game, or after. Or even before. Hell, could be a whole different timeline for all I know."

The hedgehog sighed to himself. "Halure's a peaceful place, I doubt they'd know much on what to do. Not to mention I think they wouldn't want to have two people like us walking in and asking questions. Might aswell head to Nor, we'll need to see if we can do anything to the monsters anyway. Better to find out now then at the worst possible time."

The echidna grinned as he turned around and started for the harbour. "Let's go then, quicker we get there the better."

The hedgehog took out his headphones and switched a song on his iPod. "Oh, and Nexus?"

His friend turned to him. "Yeah Joe?"

"Fuck you for waking me up."

Nexus snickered. "You're welcome."

The pair headed for the Quoi Woods. This definitely was going to be an experience.

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><p><em><strong>And that's the first chapter. Let me know what you think, I'm uploading quite a number of chapters at once since I've done quite a bit already.<strong>_

**_Hope you enjoyed reading everything so far, remember to review if you can._**


	2. The Old Man

**_**Chapter 2: The Old Man**_**

The pair had made it through the Quoi Woods with very little problem. Luckily they managed to find a small pack of wolves to try out their weapons on. They worked. The hedgehog even managed to pull off a Maximum Flash, surprised that his body could still take it; he hadn't learnt how to pull off his energy moves until he was twenty, and even then it took almost everything out of him pulling one of those moves off.

But now he was twenty-three. His body hasn't changed in the new world, but it seemed to take a bit more out of him. But luckily not too much, after a few minutes of rest he could recover quickly enough to not be a problem.

Nexus was still perfectly fine in terms of how he handled his close-range combat. He could still work on the limbs of his opponents if need be to immobilize them and to make his fight easier. Luckily the pack wasn't a challenge, so he didn't get a scratch.

The pair spotted the harbour a fair distance away from them, but the hedgehog spotted something else when he looked in another direction briefly. Something which stunned him a little; he knew where they were in time, at least roughly. "Nexus."

"Hm?" The indigo echidna didn't turn as he carried on walking on, closing their distance to Nor.

"Look. I know where we are. In time I mean."

Nexus turned around and spotted it. He too was briefly stunned by it. Sure, they had both encountered it in the game, but seeing it for real was a whole other experience.

Taraquon.

It was up in the air, in its terrifying glory. The ripples of aer that should be in the sky however were not there; they were here after the events of those seven heroes took place. But how long after, that was the question.

They didn't have time to think. A soft rumble was starting to emerge.

"Do you-?"

"Yeah, I do."

They both stood back-to-back to eachother, looking around for what was causing this little quake. Joe pulled out his guns and Nexus pulled out his sword, aswell as one of his own stun pistols. Whatever this thing was, it was big. And it wasn't going to be as easy as that pack of wolves. A roar pierced the air as both of them looked in the direction it came from. This... they did not want to see.

The Giganto; Brutal.

In a rare state, Joe nervously smirked to himself. "Looks like this will almost be a fair fight for him."

Nexus frowned. "Don't hide it. Even your arrogance isn't showing here. This won't be an easy one. Even they had a bit of trouble with him."

Joe gave a small chuckle. "Come on, you've got the strongest in the universe here with you. This'll be easy." Though in his head, he sure as hell didn't believe those words. _It's weird... _He thought to himself. _I AM the strongest being in the whole universe... so why am I nervous? Is it because of this body? _His arrogance still hadn't left him, not completely anyway.

He was far from what he claimed, but he sure as hell wouldn't say so. Brutal was charging ever closer, the trembles increasing as the pair prepared themselves for him. Their little adventure might end a bit sooner than planned; it looked like they wouldn't be getting their answers.

"Well..." The hedgehog aimed his guns right for the monster. "Let's see what he's got huh?"

Nexus remained calm, but he was still nervous. "Not like we have a choice." He prepared his sword infront of his chest, aiming his pistol right above it.

_God help me..._ The hedgehog thought to himself. "Alright." He prepared himself. "Let's g-"

A golden spiral appeared infront of them and homed in right for the Giganto. The spiral ripped into the monster, hitting it several times before the pair heard a voice. A very familiar one.

"You ready for this sunshine?"

A man wearing a large purple coat jumped into the air, now floating upside down, looking right at the stunned monster.

"Target locked..."

He opened his Celestial Star +1 bow and aimed right at Brutal.

"Begone! Your fleeting existence is done!"

They both looked up at him, stunned that they actually saw him there. So he was still around...

He winked down at the monster, all the while with a grin on his face.

"Crisis... RAIN!"

Several energy charged arrows shot out and homed in on the monster, every single one hitting him for what looked like plenty of damage per arrow, judging by the roars coming from Brutal. Then they all met at the center and created an energy explosion, bringing forth another, more blood-curdling roar from the beast as the two friends had to cover their eyes a little from the size and brightness of the explosion.

A few seconds passed by, and when the smoke had begun to clear, Brutal was down, blood pouring out of several wounds it sustained from the attack. No way that thing survived, not even Brutal could withstand something that powerful. The pair had since lowered their weapons, in stunned silence from the events they had just witnessed. Was it really him?

They spotted a shadow slowly walking towards them from behind the smoke, slowly growing until it revealed a figure. The same large purple coat, black trousers and boots with the same black shirt. The slightly messy hair with a ponytail. It was him alright.

"Hey kiddos, you might wanna put those things down. You might hurt someone with 'em." He gave another wink with a thumbs up to them as he drew in closer, stopping just short of them both. Joe and Nexus were stunned, it was definitely him. They'd recognise the attire and attitude anywhere. They slowly withdrew their weapons, while Joe had slowly turned off his iPod.

"The name's Raven kids." His grin slowly turned into a slightly concerned frown. "What're a couple of kids like you hanging about in a place with this wearing those kinds of costumes? This isn't Halloween ya know. There's dangerous monsters out here, and that was one of the worst. If it wasn't for me, you probably wouldn't be here right now."

The echidna quickly shook his head to regain his composure. "Wait, costumes? This isn't-" Nexus didn't have time to finish, he and the hedgehog had just spotted something they really didn't want to. Brutal was stirring. How in the hell did it survive Raven's attack? It was eyeing the group again as it found its feet and was getting ready to charge at them again, the rage building up inside it.

"Look out!" Joe had run up and quickly shoved Raven out the way, bringing the man's attention to the monster. "What the... hey kid, what're you doing? You'll get killed!" But the hedgehog wasn't listening, he had all of his attention focused on Brutal; it wasn't stopping, and he only had one shot at protecting them here.

He kept his eyes right on the Giganto as he moved his hands to the left of his head. A purple aura of energy began to gather in his hands. The echidna and Raven looked at him, Raven couldn't believe what he was seeing. _What the? Is the kid using... aer? But, how's that possible? And how is he doing it wearing that thing? _The old man thought to himself as he watched. Joe didn't have time to wait, so he had to put everything he had into charging the attack as powerful as he could, as fast as he could.

Raven was about to bring out his bow, before the hedgehog's voice stopped him. "Get back!"

The hedgehog had charged his attack, thank god his body could still take it. He was praying this would work, if it didn't they were dead.

"Galick GUNNNNN!" He moved his hands infront of him and shot the purple energy beam right for Brutal, hoping his aim wouldn't falter. The creature didn't seem to pay the attack any mind, maybe he thought it was a trick or something. The yellow hedgehog was certainly hoping so, but the speed of the attack was also important because if it was too slow, they had no chance.

It wasn't. The attack hit Brutal head-on, and a final deafening roar came from the beast as the beam engulfed him. Raven and Nexus tried to hold themselves in place as the force of the attack was almost pushing them back, and they weren't even receiving it! The attack continued as the hedgehog wanted to make sure the monster wouldn't come back this time. He held the attack for another five seconds, before he finally let the energy disperse from his hands.

The Galick Gun slowly disappeared as the smoke began to clear. There was nothing there, except for the charred grass and dirt on the ground. Brutal was gone. Raven peered his head up from behind his arm as he scanned where the beast once was. _Amazing... What power this kid has... Manipulating aer like this. Rita's gonna have a field day with this. _The old man thought to himself.

Nexus had regained his composure, also surprised at Joe's attack as he thought his body wouldn't be able to take it, as his more adult body couldn't handle those moves very well either. Raven let out a victorious chuckle as he walked behind the hedgehog. "That was amazing kid, you've really gotta tell Ol' Raven how you did that." He patted Joe on the back, which resulted in the hedgehog falling to the floor.

Raven's eyes widened at the sudden sight. He just patted the kid on the back, he didn't kill him did he? Nexus rushed to his friend and cursed to himself. "Dammit, he pushed himself too hard. I knew his body couldn't take this." Raven quickly knelt beside the hedgehog. "What's wrong with him? The kid's not dead is he?" The echidna shook his head. "No, but he's out cold. Those moves take a lot of energy out of him, they're high-risk high-reward moves of his."

Raven shook his head almost in disbelief. The power this kid seemed to have, and right after they had got rid of all blastia. He knew nothing about these two, but he did save their lives. Albeit temporarily. And these kids did save his life too, there's no way he would've reacted fast enough to stop Brutal in time, not from that distance.

"Where were you two going? This kid needs a doctor, and he needs it now." Nexus looked at Raven, somewhat surprised he was choosing to help them, but he didn't complain about it. "Capua Nor, we were going to the inn anyway. Unfortunately we now have a more urgent reason." Raven then picked the hedgehog up by his arms and lifted him up onto his back.

"Alright kid, let's get there fast. It's not far from here, and I think these old bones can handle this little trip with the extra weight." He gave a wink and a grin to the echidna. Nexus himself gave a small smile to the old man. "Thanks." They both jogged towards the harbour, not wasting any time.

"By the way, what's your name kid?" Raven looked at the echidna, as he still didn't really know who they were. "Nexus. The one you're carrying is Joe." Raven nodded. "Good names." They kept moving, getting nearing to their destination, hoping they wouldn't run into more monsters. Even if the monsters were weak, they couldn't risk the defenceless hedgehog getting hurt in his state.

"Like I said before, the name's Raven." The old man said as they continued. "Though I've got one question for ya that you didn't get the chance to answer. What's with the costumes?" Nexus seemed a bit nervous, since they obviously weren't in costumes, but if they told him what they were, he'd probably attack them immediately thinking they were monsters.

"I'll uh... I'll explain at the inn."

"Fair enough kid. This old man needs a rest anyway, you've got time to explain." They were almost there now, and no monsters were in sight.

_This, I can't wait to hear. This ol' man's still not seen it all yet it seems..._


	3. Meeting the Mage

**_**Chapter 3: Meeting the Mage**_**

Darkness. Once again there was nothing but darkness. Mind wasn't clear. What happened? Did he push himself too hard? Must have done. But again, had felt lips on his own. So he was dreaming again, the same as before. _No complaints here... _Went through his head as he tried to think about what happened, but it was hard to think about with this kiss going on. This felt even better than the first time, who was this?

His eye slowly opened same as before, but again, he couldn't tell who it was. It was all still a blur. Why was this dream teasing him like this? But he could see one thing. It was slightly clearer now, but not by much; all he could tell that this was definitely a human, and it was a woman. He guessed anyway, judging by all that he could tell anyway.

His eye closed again as he continued to accept the kiss, hoping this would actually last this time.

_Hey kid?_

Another voice. Dammit. But it wasn't his friend this time; it was another voice. A voice he recognised. The old man?

_Time to wake up kid. Come on now I can tell you're stirring._

The feeling was starting to leave his lips. Damn, he was waking up. The same as before, why could he not enjoy this dream? Who was this woman? And how did he...

_...get here?_

Joe's eyes slowly opened as he woke to a grey ceiling. He was in a bed; they got to Nor. But how? And why was he in the inn? He could barely remember what happened besides seeing the Giganto and the old man... Wait, Raven?

"Nice to see you're awake kid. You were out for nine hours, almost had me worried there ya know." Raven was sitting on the next bed to the right of him in his usual sitting position. Joe sat up slowly, rubbing his forehead. "How...?"

"Your friend said you pushed yourself too hard back there. Never seen anything like that before, not from an actual person anyway. Only seen that kinda thing from weapons, big ones." The old man laid back on his bed with his arms behind his head. "Your friend's out getting some gels for ya, did offer him some gald but he said he could manage." The hedgehog raised an eyebrow. _How? We don't have any gald... do we?_

"How did I get here?" Joe asked, sitting up completely now while finding his shades on the dresser next to him. "This old man here carried ya here." The old man grinned. "Not even a problem for these old bones of mine, need a bit more weight on ya kid."

The hedgehog rubbed his eyes before resting his shades on his forehead. "This really isn't my day..." The old man snickered. "I guess not, coming across Brutal like that. Lucky I showed up when I did, though I guess I should tank you too. Taking out that thing was impressive for a kid like yourself. Much like two kids I know."

Joe yawned to himself as he stretched his arms out, right when the indigo echidna opened the door and walked in, with a bag of gels all set. "Got some orange and pineapple for you, the keeper was nice enough to hand over some for free after telling him what happened." Raven sat up again as he heard the echidna come in.

"So... what did he tell you?" The hedgehog asked the old man as he wondered how much he knew. Raven rubbed his small beard with a grin. "Said you two were walking around trying to find your way here, and that these aren't exactly costumes you're wearing." Joe's eyes widened as he said that; if that was the case, why was the old man still here? Wouldn't he think they were monsters or something?

Raven laughed as he watched the yellow hedgehog's reaction. "Don't worry about it kid, with the things I've seen in my life, just about anything is believable these days. Though I'm still curious how you can manipulate aer like that, that is one thing I haven't seen. Not for attacks like that, and you clearly don't have a blastia."

Joe turned to Raven, confused. "But I'm not us-" Nexus quickly interrupted. "Never know how he's been able to do that myself, that's another reason why we're here. We want to find someone who knows this kind of thing." The hedgehog didn't have a clue what was going on, why didn't he just tell the old man what was going on?

Raven grinned. "Well, good thing I met you then. I'm meeting some people here, and one of them will be pretty interested in talking to you." Joe looked at him. "You mean everyone else? Yuri, Estelle, Karol and the others?"

The old man slightly raised an eyebrow. "How'd you know that kid?" The echidna again butted in quickly. "Well who hasn't heard of you all considering everything that's happened here? Only natural we would hear about the people who saved the world right?" Raven quickly replaced his suspicion with satisfaction and a beaming grin appeared on his face.

"Well, I AM the Great Raven after all." He laughed to himself. "Rita will want to take a look at your friend here, since as you said you've heard, she's all about the blastia and aer, even now." A weird feeling came across the hedgehog the minute the mage's name was spoken. _What the?_ The hedgehog shook it off, thinking it was nothing. He saw the old man turn to him.

"So, Joe. When were you able to manipulate aer into moves like that? We could've used someone like you against the adephagos." The hedgehog shut his eyes and looked down at himself. No idea why he had to pretend anything, he was the strongest in the universe for goodness sake. At least he believed so. He sighed to himself as he laid back against the headboard. "For as long as I can remember, I've always been able to do this. At first I couldn't control this kind of thing, it just seemed to happen at random moments. But then when I was fifteen, I learned to control it into these moves. But with one problem; these take almost all my energy from me. If I don't push too hard, I can recover in just a few minutes."

"But if you push too hard, this happens." Raven finished off. The hedgehog nodded. "Exactly, so I can't pull these off on the fly. And I've never had a bodhi blastia, so I've had to use this either in small attacks, or in desperate situations when it came to the big moves."

Raven nodded as he listened to the brief story. "Well, don't worry. As you've heard, Rita's the best; if anyone can figure out how to handle your aer, it's her." Joe sighed, in annoyance with this whole pretending thing but also faking hopefulness. "How long until they're here?" He asked the old man.

Raven grinned. "Shouldn't be long now, five minutes at the most." Nexus took a seat after leaving the bag of gels by Joe's bed, the hedgehog quickly took an orange gel, feeling his energy slowly return to him.

"Why are you here then old man? Can't be just coincidence we came across you here." Raven snickered to himself. "Guild business I'm afraid kid. Can't exactly tell everyone about it can I?" A grin then appeared on the echidna's face. "No, but you can tell the people who saved your life right?"

Raven doubled back in feigned agony. "Aw, you're cruel kids you know that? And after I did all this for you too." He then shrugged and laid back with a smile. "You got a point though kid, nice to see you have a good brain in that head of yours. Basically there were rumours of Leviathan's Claw seemingly starting up again, someone from inside the guild had apparently learned his way of leading from watching Yeager or something. We knew it wasn't the twins as they've gone back to that orphanage in Torim."

"So you've been looking for clues? Why look near the woods and Halure?" Raven snickered. "Like I said kid, rumours. You never know where you'd find clues and other things." Right then, they all heard an all-too-familiar sound. Ba'ul. Raven grinned. "They're here." The old man got up and walked to the door. "Stay here alright, I'll bring 'em right here." Nexus thanks him and let him go.

Joe sighed in annoyance and shut his eyes while sitting back up. "Mind telling me what the hell you're doing? I thought you wanted to find out how we got here. Why are you telling the old man I can use aer without blastia?" His friend sat down with a concerned look. "If we told them literally everything, there's no way they would believe us. Coming from another planet or dimension? I know my excuse for how we look was weak, but at least it's better than nothing right now."

"And how long do you suggest we act like this? Not to mention, you know we're gonna have to stick around with them. And how do you think we'll be able to pull that off? Sure we helped Raven, but unless we can help them in some other way, we're in trouble." That comment brought a grin to Nexus' face. "We have a way. We've got someone who can manipulate aer after all."

Joe just sighed. He just woke up from being unconscious and he just wasn't in the mood. He considered this all fairly ironic since he played the game this whole world was based on, but right now, he just wanted to get all of this sorted and get home. He also wanted to know what the hell that dream was all about.

A few minutes had passed, and the hedgehog hadn't moved from his position. He doesn't like getting woken up, especially if it's from an awesome yet curious dream. At that moment, the door opened and Raven had walked back in. "Back kid, and guess who I brought?" Nexus turned and looked at the door.

"Alright, what in the hell is this I'm hearing about ae-" There was silence. The hedgehog's eyes were shut, he wondered why this sudden silence had started. Within seconds, a scream erupted. Before they knew it a magical charging sound had begun. Nexus and Raven panicked and ran towards the mage, trying to stop her. "H-Hold on girl, we can explain what he is!"

"I can explain it already, that's a freak sitting there and he should not exist, that's not aer manipulation, that's a monster and I'm killing it right now!" The mage screamed as despite the protests, she shot a fireball aiming for the yellow hedgehog. "Joe, look out!" Nexus had called out to him, but what happened next shocked even him.

The fireball stopped. The hedgehog had his hand held out by his side to hold it back. All the while he still had his head down and his eyes shut, he was blocking the mages attack like it was nothing at all. "W-What the hell is this?" The mage said in a panic, though she wouldn't admit she was in a panic about it.

"I have been woken up after knocking myself out protecting the old man there who helped me, I'm not in the best of moods when I do get woken up by someone else. I have this ability to manipulate aer and I don't know how or why, and I'm being hit by a pathetic fireball that a six year old could pull off."

The hedgehog snapped his eyes open and looked right into the mages, for a split-second that funny feeling came over him, but he didn't care right now. "The old man brought you here to help, and the first thing you say is I'm a freak. I thought you were the genius mage who helped save the world? You want to insult me and try to kill me the second you see me? You really want to throw away a project of yours just like that?" He closed his hand with force and literally crushed the fireball, causing it to disperse, the mage's eyes widened in disbelief.

_H-How... How did he... _The mage thought to herself as she watched the hedgehog close his eyes again and look down at himself. Joe sighed to himself as he began to get up. "Just wait outside all of you, I'll be out in a minute. I'm a prick when I'm getting up, I'll make it worse if you lot stick around." Raven turned to the echidna, looking at him with a wondering expression. The echidna motioned to the outside and started to move.

"Alright genius mage, let's do what he says." He turned and started to move for the outside. Rita however, stayed in place. Not out of fright, but almost out of sheer curiosity alone. The hedgehog went to the dresser and spotted that his weapons were thoughtfully placed inside, aswell as his iPod, which brought a quick grin to his lips.

He removed them all and went to his jetboots and quickly put them on, thankful they didn't try to take off the several straps he was wearing. _Takes ages doing that myself as it is._ He thought with a quick snicker. The mage was still at the door watching him, stunned.

_What is he...? I've never seen, not even read anything about something like this. And that's just on his aer manipulation ability, never mind his appearance. _Rita just watched him, she was almost tempted to walk up to him and just ask questions. She saw the hedgehog was about to turn around and see her before she quickly ducked out of the room.

_Wait, why did I just do that? I'm not SCARED of him or anything! What the hell was up with me there? _She let out an exasperated sigh and went outside with the others. She did also think why she didn't over-react as much when she saw the other one. I mean, sure she was surprised at seeing TWO of them, but why did the yellow one interest her more? Probably the ability he has. _Figures... But what are they? _She thought to herself as she got outside.


	4. What's First?

**_**Chapter 4: What's first?**_**

Nexus had walked out to seeing everyone except Estelle and Karol. The second he popped into his sight, the ex-knight gave a slightly shocked expression. He looked fairly similar to himself. Although admittedly it was just the indigo dreadlocks that make it look like Yuri's same coloured hair. He quickly dispelled the shock and gave a chuckle. "Well, it seems my look seems to be catching. You have good taste at least."

The echidna himself laughed as he spotted Yuri himself, grateful that everyone else didn't seem to give the reaction Rita did when first seeing him. "Why aren't you all as surprised as the mage was?" Raven quickly butt-in with a wink and thumbs-up. "That'll be thanks to me kid. I let them all know what you looked like beforehand. It wasn't exactly easy trying to convince them, and as you noticed, I couldn't convince our genius mage back there."

Raven let out a laugh. "I guess with everything they've all seen, they're not surprised by anything nowadays." The krityan smiled at him. "Not after everything we've seen from you old man." Yuri chuckled. "Besides, after what the old man told us about this 'aer manipulation' thing, we had to check this out. Your friend could help us on how to use aer without blastia."

Nexus' grin faded a little. "Maybe." He then turned when he heard Rita make her way out of the inn, confused as to what took her so long. She walked right past him, giving him an untrusting look as she went up to the group. Yuri spoke up once again. "Surprised we didn't hear anything about your friend sooner, he could have really helped us with some of our adventures." The echidna shrugged a little sheepishly.

"Guess we were just unlucky. Besides, it all worked out for you anyway didn't it." Yuri nodded before they all heard something coming from the inn. Nexus immediately knew who it was, and let out a sigh.

"_Roll the dice, play your cards, break the rules, that's who you are..." _The hedgehog walked out of the inn, seemingly like a completely different person from just some minutes ago. He had his eyes shut as he sang the lyrics to the song he was listening to. He wasn't that good of a singer, but he couldn't really hear himself, so who cares right?

His eyes opened as he saw everyone. A cocky grin appeared on his face as he paused the song. "Joe. Pleasure to meet you all." Judith let out a giggle from his 'singing' as Raven shook his head with a grin. Rita just shook her head in annoyance while Yuri and Repede seemed indifferent to the whole thing.

"So, you're the guy who can manipulate the aer to attack." Yuri said, curious himself. The hedgehog nodded, that grin never leaving his lips. "And you all saved the world. It's an honor to meet ya." Yuri nodded in response. "Thanks. So, mind telling us all about this ability you have?"

They spent the next few minutes discussing everything that happened (including the made-up reason for the two friends being here), Rita paying extremely close attention given her research. The hedgehog finished his explanation and decided to not waste anymore of their time and asked if he and his friend could come along with them while they try to figure everything out.

"Of course you're coming!" A voice called out. They all looked right at the person who said it. It was Rita. She looked at them all in return. "What? He has to come with us for me to figure out how he has this ability doesn't he? We can't stay here and potentially waste time with these rumors flying around." Almost everyone nodded in quick agreement while the hedgehog grinned. He was starting to feel a bit better about all this already.

"So, where to first?" Joe asked, itching to get this little adventure started. "First we're going to Dahngrest where the rumors started to see if we can get any more information. Then we're going to Capua Torim to ask Kaufman if she any information on this. And then we're going to head for Nordapolica to talk to Natz, and maybe train a little in the Coliseum." Judith said with a smile.

Joe's eyes lit up a little when he heard that. He was hoping he'd hear that last part. "Are Estelle and Karol coming too?" Nexus added, noticing neither of them were there. "Mhm. They're back on the Fierta now, just waiting for us to get back. Estelle's pretty interested in you too ya know kid." The old man elbowed the hedgehog on the arm as he mentioned it.

"Well, I doubt we should keep a princess waiting should we? Should we get started on this little journey of ours?" Joe said, with a grin plastered on his face. "This isn't a vacation you know, we're doing this as business for their guild, and you're only here so I can figure out what's up with that ability of yours." Rita chimed in sharply, which drew an annoyed frown from the hedgehog.

"I'm aware 'O Genius Mage', but it's not like we can't enjoy ourselves either you know." He rebuttled. "I like this kid already!" Raven said patting the yellow hedgehog on the back which drew a quick laugh from them both, while Yuri gave a small grin and started to head off for Ba'ul and the Fierta. Rita groaned in annoyance as she followed suit. _This better be worth my damn patience… _She thought to herself.

Judith had walked up to Nexus and held out a hand for him. "Judith."

"Nexus." He shook her hand with a small smile. "Shall we get going then?" The krityan smiled back. "Of course." She walked on, leaving the two friends and Raven. "Good looking ain't she?" The old man muttered to the hedgehog with a grin, to which the hedgehog replied with one of his own. "Oh yeah."

"Don't think about chasing her though, Ol' Raven here already has his sights set on her." He said chuckling as he walked off after him. "Oh yeah? She could barely keep her eyes off me…" Joe replied to him walking beside him which drew a laugh from the old man as they continued this small competition of theirs.

Nexus shook his head and sighed. _Great, I knew those two would be like two peas in a damn pod. God knows how they'll cope with two of them… I wonder if they'll know how to bring us back home, since we can't stay here forever of course. _The echidna thought to himself as he walked after them. The adventure was about to begin for them.


	5. Rita's Testing

**_**Chapter 5: Rita's Testing**_**

He was lying on the bottom bunk inside the cabin of the Fierta. Joe had been laying there for about twenty minutes all the while the mage had her little aer hologram computer out aswell as a few books she brought with her for this little trip and to possibly aid her in figuring out what is up with the hedgehog. "Amazing... It's not even picking up that you have aer in your body, it's like it doesn't exist within you until you're actively using it." Rita said out loud as she continued her work.

Joe opened an eye took at her. "Like this?" He brought out one of his arms and created a small ball of 'aer' in his hand. Luckily little things like this he could do with no problems with his body as it was small amounts of energy he could recover quickly enough. The teenager's eyes widened a little in surprise but quickly regained herself. She looked at her holographic computer, surprise going over her face again at the results. "The aer being shown here shouldn't be this small, not even for something like that."

The hedgehog's eyes widened a little, but he quickly changed his expression to a confused look to cover up. "Why is that? I'm not putting much into this little ball here, so shouldn't it reflect those results perfectly?" Rita shook her head. "The results shouldn't be this miniscule. I mean for the attack that old man told us about, which by the way I don't believe you pulled off..." Which made the hedgehog roll his eyes. "The results for something like that would be huge in theory, sure. But this, the aer it's giving off should be higher. And this is without a blastia?"

"Yep. Never had one, wasn't lucky enough I guess. But I never exactly let the whole world know about this or anything, especially considering the Adephagos. I'd probably be considered an enemy if you encountered me then." The mage didn't answer as she continued to look at her results before quickly saving them and moving them to one side of the screen.

"Put more into it would you?" The hedgehog did just so and slightly increased the power of the ball, also increasing its size. Rita continued to read her results, asking the hedgehog to adjust the power and size of the little energy ball he brought up. _If this is connected to a formula of some kind, this could potentially change everything... This isn't the same case as Estelle, so how is he able to manipulate aer from his body like this?_

"Need me to do anything else?" Joe asked the mage as she was concentrating. "You can stop with that now. I'm gonna do some scans of your body to see where the aer is coming from. You're obviously able to do this somehow." A cheeky grin appeared on the hedgehog's face. "Need me to take anything off or are you gonna do it if you need to?"

Rita glared at him. "Damn sicko... You're just like that perverted old man." She muttered to him as she started her scans. Joe chuckled. "I was kidding, you're fifteen. I've got some standards you know."

"Sixteen. My birthday was a few months ago, not that it even matters." She replied darkly while starting her first scan. The yellow hedgehog folded his arms behind his head and let the mage carry on with her work. "I've got numerous scans planned, and this will take time, so you might aswell sleep if you need to." Rita said to him as ran numerous mini-scans during her main one.

Joe shrugged. "Whatever you say, just don't wake me up. I'd rather not have to throw you off this thing." He then felt his shirt being grabbed and saw the mage right in his face, staring daggers into him. "One; You couldn't throw me off this thing on your best day, and two; watch who you're talking to, I'm taking time out of my life to help you here."

They remained there for a few seconds before Joe grinned. "You're pretty cute when you're mad." Rita jumped back a little, a small blush starting to appear on her face. She then punched the hedgehog in the gut which made him double-forward a little. He chuckled to himself as he laid back down. "What? Touch a nerve did I?" He coughed a few times, that punch hurt more than it looked.

"Just shut up and let me do this. Idiot..." She huffed as he continued her scan while the hedgehog laughed and folded his arms behind his head again. He gave a little yawn and shut his eyes as he tried to get some sleep, letting the sounds of Rita working be his little lullaby.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Sorry about the length of this one, I couldn't think of much with this one, but I didn't want to skip it either. Hopefully less chapters will be this short.<strong>_


	6. To Dahngrest

**_**Chapter 6: To Dahngrest**_**

Nexus leaned down on one side of the ship as he watched Ba'ul fly everyone to their destination. It was gonna take a while to get there and Rita was busying doing tests on the hedgehog right now, so they all mostly had to stay out here, except for Estelle of course; she would always be an exception.

Nexus looked around to see what everyone was doing; Yuri and Repede were at the front of the ship just overlooking the world as they flew over, Judith and Estelle were quietly chatting to themselves and the old man was sleeping at the back of the ship. So that left only one. "Hey! You're the friend of the guy Rita's doing tests on aren't you?" The echidna looked down and gave a small smile as he saw Karol right beside him.

"Yeah. Name's Nexus, nice to meet ya Karol." The kid smiled at him. "Have you been told where we're going first?" The echidna nodded. "We're going there to ask Harry if he knows anything about these rumors. It's probably nothing, but Leviathan's Claw is still dangerous no matter who's leading them."

The echidna chuckled which brought a confused look to the guild leaders face. "You've really grown as a leader haven't ya? Heard all about this guild you got here. It's good they have a leader who knows his stuff." That brought a small blush from slight embarrassment on the kid. "Hehe..."

Nexus turned around so he was facing the cabin. "So, how long do you think they're gonna be in there?" Karol went next to the echidna and turned to the cabin himself. "Not sure. But he's got the best mage in the world in there, if anyone can figure it out, it's her." He said with confidence and a beaming smile on his face, which made the echidna chuckle again.

"Yeah, she can." He looked up at the sky and noticed it was starting to get dark. "I'm guessing it'll be daylight before we get to Dahngrest?" Karol looked around at the sky, fairly puzzled. "Hmm, shouldn't be too much longer; should be there before it's dark. We SHOULD be anyway... Maybe Ba'ul is just taking his time getting there, I mean we aren't in too much of a rush or anything."

Nexus shrugged. "No worries. More time for Rita to figure Joe out." Karol nodded. "Yeah..."

"What do you think of our new friends here?" Judith asked the princess. "They're... unique to say the least." Estelle said, with a look of slight concern. "But what if these are just some really intelligent monsters? We have no idea what still lies out here in this world." The krityan looked at the echidna in the distance.

"I don't think any kind of monster would be this intelligent. And I don't think they'd do anything to hurt us." Estelle looked at her. "How can you be so sure?" Judith thought a little. "Just a hunch. And if I'm wrong, there's nothing out these we can't handle, we've proved that several times already." The princess slowly nodded. "True..." Estelle then slowly turned around to look at Yuri in the distance. He wasn't looking at her, but she still stared at him. Judith noticed and smiled. "You're glad you're still journeying with him aren't you?" The krityan said which drew a quick gasp from the princess who clearly had a blush on her face.

"Y-Yeah I am." She shook her head to try to get rid of the redness of her cheeks. "But I'm glad I'm travelling with all of you again! I mean, you're all my friends!" Judith smiled at her. "I know, but you have never been as happy when Yuri isn't here with us. Even Rita has noticed this from you Estelle. Do you like Yuri?"

Estelle's cheeks flushed again but with a much brighter red. "O-Of course I do! I like all of you! You're all my friends remember?" Judith giggled. "You know what I meant Estelle. Whenever he comes with us your face lights up and you seem truly happy when he's here." The princess was almost completely red at this point. "U-Um..."

Judith giggled again. "It's okay Estelle. You don't have to say anything. I could be wrong after all. But if I'm not, it's very sweet to think about." The krityan then walked off leaving the princess to herself, still blushing like mad. _Is Judith right? Do I... like Yuri? _She looked at him again and watched him. What surprised her was that almost unconsciously she started to smile when she looked at him.

_Maybe... But... What about Yuri? I mean, does he feel the same...? _She sighed and looked out into the distance.

The sky was getting darker now, and it looked like they weren't halfway to Dahngrest yet. Yuri looked at the sky slightly confused. "Normally we should be at least halfway there by now." He quickly shrugged. "Ah well, no rush." He sat down next to Repede which drew a brief yawn from his canine friend. "Tired already pal?" The ex-knight chuckled to himself. "Well, until our genius mage is done in there with her 'latest project', we're gonna be sleeping out here it seems."

He laid back and shut his eyes. "To think, I thought we'd get at least a little break after saving the world. But the world always has its problems doesn't it Repede?" The dog whined. "Not to mention this hedgehog-thing can manipulate aer. Rita's probably going crazy about this, she'll do anything to help people move on from blastia. She's already prototyped a flying machine and made some communicators. Guess she does know about more than just blastia."

Yuri opened his eyes again to see the old man staring at him with a grin. "What is it old man?" Raven sat down beside him. "What, I need to have something in mind to come over here? You need to put more trust in me kid." Yuri rolled his eyes and grinned. "Whatever you say old man. What's up?"

Raven looked up into the sky. "Getting dark. Thought we'd be halfway there at least by now." He sighed to himself. "So, what do you think about these new ones we've got with us?" Yuri shrugged. "They seem alright so far. But it's still too early to tell. But that yellow hedgehog does intrigue me, what with his ability. And he did perk up when he heard we were gonna be going to Nordapolica; guess the kid loves to fight."

Raven grinned. "See something of yourself in him then Yuri?" He shrugged. "Like I said, too early to tell. But if we met in the coliseum, I think it'd be interesting to see what happens." The old man smiled and stood up. "Well, I'm gonna get back to my beauty sleep. Rita's not gonna be done in there for a while yet." Yuri chuckled. "Not enough time in the world for the beauty sleep you need old man." Raven feigned a groan. "Aw, that hurts Yuri." He grinned and gave him a thumbs up. "See ya in the morning kid."

He walked off and left Yuri to his thoughts. Repede laid down next to his long-time friend and shut his eye, planning on some sleep of his own. Yuri smiled and laid back. "Guess we're all getting an early night. Gonna be an interesting time this little adventure of ours." He closed his eyes and waited for sleep to take over.


	7. He Can Cook?

**_**Chapter 7: He Can Cook?**_**

Darkness again? Yep, it was the exact same dream again. It was almost annoying to him by now that he wasn't getting any closer to finding out why he was just getting this particular dream for the past few days. Almost annoying to him. He did want to know who was kissing him though, since he thought it'd be nice to see how clearly had the hots for him. In a dream. _God it's pathetic... _

This time, instead of just one, he opened both his eyes; he wanted to see who it was for real now. But again, he would be denied; a blur. However once again he did notice more of this woman. She seemed fairly tall, she had rubbed her hands over his arms and he could feel her bare fingers; so she wasn't wearing gloves.

He wanted to know more about this mystery woman so this time he reached his arms out slowly to try and feel her, if there was any clues; it could be anyone he knows after all. He reached for her shoulders first and slowly trailed his hands down her arms, at least he was sure it was her arms as he had shut his eyes again.

He did feel clothing, so this woman wasn't completely naked at least. _Shame... _He thought to himself but then in a quick change of his usual character, threw the thought away and carried on feeling and touching this woman's body. His hands went to her stomach, though not too low since he thought knowing what's happened so far he'd be woken up right when he was feeling 'those' parts. Seemed to be clothing there too.

So there were a few people he could think of just from this, but he kept going, to her legs. A bodysuit maybe? Or long socks? Or boots? Couldn't tell even if he did open his eyes, it'd just be an annoying blur. So he might aswell do what he should have done in the first place. Go to her face. He lifted his hands up and started to cup her face in his hands...

Or he would have done, if he didn't wake up. Joe's eyes shot open in realisation, he wasn't much closer to figuring this mystery woman out. _Dammit! _He thought angrily to himself. He sighed and looked around the cabin. He saw in the window that it was night-time. Guess his sleep pattern was bit screwed now, not that it was a major problem considering what everyone else went through on their adventures.

He moved his leg to help himself up when it softly hit something on his bed. He lifted his head up to notice something he somewhat didn't expect. Rita sleeping while sitting at his bed. _Guess there were more tests to do than I thought. _He felt himself smile softly at the sight of the mage sleeping peacefully. _She's cute when she's asleep like this. _But then his eyes widened a little and then he shook his head. Cute? Jesus, Judith was way more of his type than anything.

Not to mention all the other women he (claims) to have been with before, none of them were anything like Rita. "God knows what I thought there." But he did look at the sleeping mage again for a few moments, watching her chest move slowly up and down as she breathed. He slowly sat up. "Well, regardless, I can't leave a hard working mage sleeping like this can I." He maneuvered himself to quietly get himself out of bed without disturbing the mage. When out, he quietly moved behind her.

"Knowing Rita, I gotta make sure not to wake her up here..." He whispered to himself as he got his arms behind her back and under her legs as he slowly moved her onto the bed, taking special care not to wake her up. He slowly but quietly got Rita's shoes off as he then went to the table in the middle of the room and sat down.

"Why did Rita actually detect aer coming from me? That shouldn't be possible." He wondered if this had any connection to his new body in this world. But then a smirk came onto his lips. "Then again, if this indeed possible and Rita figures this out, maybe I'll be able to use all my moves with no fear of knocking myself out. It might even work when we get home." God he was looking forward to Nordapolica.

His smirk quickly passed as he then realised something. "What the hell is there to do before we get to Dahngrest though? Can't listen to music all night. And I'm not getting back to sleep anytime soon, not to mention everyone else is probably sleeping outside." He looked around then noticed one book in particular on the floor, which he picked up out of curiosity. "Ah right, their recipe book. Hmm..." He then shrugged to himself. "You know what, why not?" He opened the book up and got to reading.

A few hours had passed, and Rita began to stir. Though there was something she doesn't normally expect when she was waking up; she could smell food. And... it smelt good. Rita slowly opened her eyes and saw she was laying on a bed. The same bed the hedgehog was in. _Did he move me here? So then where is...? _Her train of thought was interrupted when she turned around and noticed that the yellow hedgehog was doing something he himself didn't think he'd be doing.

He was cooking. There were a few plates on the table and various ingredients set around the place while he kept his eyes focused on the recipe book he became oh-so interested in. Rita rubbed her eyes and brought her attention back to the smell she noticed earlier. It did indeed smell good, but of course the smell doesn't mean everything when it comes to food and one's cooking ability. She slowly moved her legs so she was sitting up on the bed, noticing that Joe seemed oblivious to her waking up.

He had no idea how many hours had passed since he started, but he sure as hell didn't expect cooking would be so easy here for him. Granted, everything he tasted back home seemed good to him, but what about everyone else? He was trying every recipe in the book. He easily made some sandwiches and some croquettes for himself, but now he was trying some other recipes out for everyone else, taking note of the little 'marks' everyone left by certain recipes; he guessed that's what everyone put as their favourites.

Rita slowly got up and rubbed her eyes. "What're you doing? When did you learn to cook?" The hedgehog snapped out of his cooking frenzy and looked at the mage. "Sorry, didn't notice you were awake." He quickly took a look at the pan he was using and stopped frying whatever it was he was cooking. "To answer your question, all I've known to cook before was simple-ready meals. But after finding this book here, I decided to try everything out."

Rita sat down at the table and raised an eyebrow. "But why? We can all cook fine you know. And should you even be up? I'll need to do more scans and tests on you eventually." Joe shrugged. "I just thought why not, since you lot are helping me figure everything out. I guess this was one way I could repay your hospitality I guess." He turned and gave her a quick grin. "Besides, from what I saw, you've been doing enough scanning for the night. You can take a quick break at least." The mage sat back in slight surprise. "So it was you who moved me onto the bed." The hedgehog nodded. "Couldn't leave you sleeping like that could I?" Rita nodded slowly. "I guess..." Her attention then turned to that smell that brought on her curiosity in the first place.

"So chef, what're you cooking then?" The hedgehog opened up the pan and put what he was cooking into a bowl. "Rice. Gonna make some Rice Ball's, since judging by this mark in the book, it's one of your favourites." Rita grinned. "Sure you can handle that? It's harder to do than those sandwiches you seem to have mastered already." This brought a competitive smirk from the yellow hedgehog.

"Guess we'll see won't we? You're eating some of them." Rita then shook her head while waggling her finger. "Oh no no no, you're getting the first taste here. As it's one of my favourites, you wanna make sure you haven't screwed this up don't you?" Joe chuckled. "Tell you what, we'll both try them at the same time." He took the rice out of the pot and started to make the rice balls. Rita then smirked back at him.

"That a challenge or something? Tell you what, if I like the rice balls you make I'll... kiss you for ten seconds." Joe gave a confident grin in response. "Oh? Then if you don't like them then I'll... do the cooking for everyone the whole time I'm here with you all and you can run any and every test you want on me with no objections." Rita's smirk grew wider. "Deal!" The hedgehogs smirk faded a little when she said that.

"I was kidding."

"Too late, let's try these things out!"

And now the pressure was on him. He didn't want to do all the cooking the entire time he was here; what if he would end up being here for a few months? Or even a year? He did just get an interest in cooking, but jesus he didn't want to do that non-stop. Not to mention he knew Rita was bluffing when she said she'd kiss him. She was freaked out the first time she saw him, he was surprised he didn't make her skin crawl, never mind want to kiss him on her own free will.

He spent a few minutes making sure the rice balls were perfect, all the while Rita was egging him on in an attempt to screw with him. "Come on, you don't want me to kiss you or something?" The hedgehog was getting annoyed, he wondered why he took a sudden interest in this. God he was regretting it already. When he was finally done, he put all six rice balls on a plate for them both. Rita had been grinning the entire time, fully confident that even though she was hoping she'd hate these, she would at least knock the hedgehog off his high horse.

Joe sighed. "Well, shall we?" He took a rice ball from the plate and watched Rita do the same, that grin still plastered on her face. "Hope you learn quick, cause I doubt everyone will want bad cooking the whole time you're here." The hedgehog sighed again, he knew he screwed this up. "Enjoy." He then took a bite of the rice ball he held and Rita did the same with hers.

The hedgehog immediately hated it. He shut his eyes tight in disgust as he grabbed a bag and spit it back out, coughing a few times to get all the flavour out. He grabbed a bottle of water he took out earlier and took several swigs from it. _Never eating rice again..._ He took a pen and made a little mark to point out that he hated the recipe, still coughing a little from the bad taste.

He noticed Rita hadn't said (or gagged) anything, so he looked up at her. She had a stunned look on her face as she held the other half of the rice ball in her hand. Joe sighed again as he got another bag and held it out for her. "Go ahead, no point torturing yourself." Rita's look didn't change, she seemed frozen. Joe looked at her with a puzzled look. "Rita? Are you okay?"

She swallowed the rice she had in her mouth, then slowly looked down at it, then a rapid blush came across her face. "This is... this is..." A very slow grin started to emerge on the hedgehogs lips. "This is?"

"Amazing..." Rita quickly ate the rest of her rice ball and took all the others in simarly quick fashion, eating them all. "These are awesome! You should've learned to cook ages ago!" Rita quickly took the recipe book and made some extra marks on the Rice Ball recipe, seemingly signalling that she just wanted the hedgehog to cook them for her from now on. Joe scratched the back of his head sheepishly before grinning at her. "So, I guess that means I won our little bet then."

Rita immediately stopped writing. _Oh god I forgot..._ The blush came right back onto her face as she slowly looked back up at him. "Y-You know... I-I was kidding too ya know..." The hedgehog laughed as he stood up. "Now now, we had a deal. I lose, I cook for everyone while I'm here. I win... you kiss me for ten seconds. And last I checked, you loved my cooking; so that means I win."

Rita was almost shaking. _B-But... Look at him! He's not even h-human!_ She would never admit to be scared of anything, but kissing something that didn't look human? It almost terrified her. She only said that because she was that certain he wouldn't cook them that well. While she was in her thoughts, the hedgehog had sat right next to her and was right in her face; that grin stuck on his face.

"Well, I'm waiting genius mage. It's just ten seconds, it won't kill you." Rita was blushing like mad and was shaking very noticeably at this point. She turned her head away. "J-Just aslong as you shut your eyes before I do it. There's no way you're watching me to do this..." Joe smirked at her. "Aww, and I wanted to see your face when you were ready to kiss. Too bad."

"D-Do you want this or not? J-Just do it already!" Joe snickered. "Alright, your rules Rita." The hedgehog closed his eyes and waited for her. Rita honestly had never kissed anyone before, though she obviously knew how to and she had seen several people kiss eachother. But she never thought he first kiss would be with... well, a yellow hedgehog who looks nothing like a normal hedgehog should.

She put her hand on the table, shaking like crazy. Nerves, nothing more surely. She didn't want to look at him during this, not to mention she had no idea what she would do if someone walked in during this. She shut her eyes tightly and very slowly started moving her head and body forward. _Ten seconds... That's all it is, just ten seconds... T-Ten seconds..._ She then felt her lips touch him. Her eyes closed tighter as she wanted it over with. God knows what he was thinking right now.

A cough came from the direction she was facing, which made her eyes snap open. To which she didn't see the hedgehog's face right by her own. It wasn't even near her; her lips were on... his fingers? "I know you don't want to do this Rita, I'm not that sick. You're shaking so much from this, you don't know how bad I'd feel if I made you do this."

Rita blinked at him, almost unaware what was even happening. Joe smiled at her innocent face, which was still blushing like mad. "I'm glad you liked my cooking though. When I cook again, I'll make sure to stick to your favourites." He took his two fingers off her lips and got up and went to the door of the cabin before looking back at her.

"Want everyone else here for a late night dinner? I can try to cook everyone's favourites if you want. I'm sure Nexus can probably help." Rita just turned to face him, almost dazed from disbelief. "I...I..." Joe smiled at her. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna say anything about this whole thing." He walked out the door to get everyone, while Rita just sat there stunned.

She turned around and sat on the bed, still shaking and blushing. She couldn't believe he would be so... caring like that. She was certain he'd just take her kiss with everything he had right there. She shook her head to get the thoughts out of her head. "Idiot..." She said to herself, not believing she let herself get so worked up about this. But she was glad she was spared that more-than-likely disastrous moment.

She did slowly smile however, thankful that he did do that. "He does know how to cook. I think everyone could take lessons from him." She then quietly laughed. "Well, when it comes to Rice Balls anyway. Not sure how he'll do with the more complicated stuff." She then got a mischievous grin. "Maybe I'll tell him to make the old man some Sorbets..." She snickered as she stood up and cleaned up some of the left-overs while waiting to see if they would indeed have that late night dinner.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Don't worry, this won't be a RitaxOC story, so you don't need to get your sick-bags. My character won't be paired up with anyone outside the Sonic universe. Hope you lot are enjoying the story so far.<strong>_


	8. Late Night Dinner

**_**Chapter 8: Late Night Dinner**_**

"You? Cook? You are joking right?"

"The recipes are way easier than they look." Joe said as he continued to make some Fried Chicken and Fries for him and his friend. "If I can pull something out of these, you can." Nexus shrugged. "So what're you making for everyone then?"

"Right, it's gonna be chicken and fries for us since that's the safest bet for me anyway, some more rice balls for Rita, a rice omelette for Karol, some Japanese stew for Judith, sushi for the old man, salad for Repede, Udon Hot Pot for Estelle and a Mabo Curry for Yuri." Nexus raised an eyebrow. "And what makes you think you're gonna cook all that by yourself?"

"Why do you think I dragged you here? You're helping me." Nexus shook his head with an unimpressed laugh. "Yeah, I don't think so."

Joe, half-not listening out of concentration and also blatantly ignoring the refusal, handed the echidna the ingredients for Repede, Raven and Judith's meals. "Here you woman, you can do the easier stuff. Luckily all of this can be done at once so nothing gets cold. Thank god it works like this in this world, god knows how it'd work back home."

Nexus sighed and reluctantly got started before he quickly turned to the mage who was reading in the cabin with them. "So what did you find on him? Anything you can work with?" Rita looked up briefly before going back to her book. "From some of the results, the aer consumption seems inconsistent. For little to medium attacks, he uses so little aer it's almost untraceable, yet when he gets beyond a certain point, it automatically jumps up to massive consumption. Almost like a pipe breaks and it causes a leak to use a euphemism."

Nexus looked at the hedgehog with a confused look, since he knows his friend shouldn't be using aer for his attacks. "I know." The hedgehog worded silently to him before going back to the cooking. Nexus went back to preparing his own stuff before getting back to Rita. "So do you know if there's anything you can do?"

"I might have something, but I'll need to run a few more tests and scans first. Might be an opportunity to get something else that's been on my mind figured out aswell." The mage seemed to notice both of them look at her which made her continue. "Since all the blastia is gone, we are trying to figure out ways to see how we can use aer in our everyday lives. Now while I'm not as good at this compared to my blastia research, I've been working on a few contraptions. A little flying machine, communicators if we all need to split up, little things like that."

"And I'm guessing you've got something that would replace the bodhi blastia too?" The hedgehog asked. The mage shook her head. "Not yet, but I've got some plans. And if all goes well, you could maybe test it out for me." Nexus turned to the hedgehog, waiting for his reaction. "Sure, why not? Anything to help make my aer ability easier to handle." The cut the potatoes into thin fries and put them in the pot while getting the rice for Rita and Karol's dinner.

Nexus, while still a little reluctant, managed to get most of his stuff done in fairly quick effort. "Told ya it was easy." The echidna frowned. "Doesn't mean it's gonna taste good is it? I'd rather not have Repede bite my leg off if I screw this up." The hedgehog snickered as he continued his work on the mabo curry and the hot pot. "I think you'd rather have that than my rice balls." Rita butted in quickly. "Hey, I said those were amazing." Joe snickered. "To you. They tasted like crap to me."

The echidna finished up on the salad then got to making the sushi and stew. Rita looked up from her book. "How much longer?" Joe checked the food quickly. "All of your stuff shouldn't take too long, me and my friend's things will be a bit later cause of all this stuff. But we'll still be eating with ya."

_I thought he'd be begging to drop by Nordapolica first. Or just listening to music or hitting on Judith. Not cooking._ Nexus thought to himself as thanks to their effort, managed to get everything except for their own dinner finished in good time. "Want me to get everyone?" The hedgehog nodded. "Go ahead, I'm good for finishing up here." The echidna left to gather everyone inside while Joe carefully put everyone's dinners on plates.

Everyone else made it inside, Yuri and Judith giving the hedgehog slightly surprised looks as they saw him finishing up his cooking before they were all sitting down at the table. Many aromas went around the cabin, gathering everyone's interest. Estelle perked up a little. "What is this? It smells good." The hedgehog grinned. "Everyone's favourites. Think of it as thanks for taking us with you during all this. And for leaving the recipe book here too I guess."

Raven perked up when he smelt the sushi. "Now this kind of cooking I could get used to." Judith gave a smile. "I believe there's some stew too if I'm not mistaken."

The hedgehog finally finished everything and he handed out the plates to everyone, almost everyone giving happy reactions to see their favourite dishes. Joe finally sat down next to Judith as he got to his chicken and fries, taking a breath of relief as he could finally relax. Unless everyone hated the cooking, then he'd have to hope his jetboots were still working.

He waited at first to watch everyone else eat, to see if he'd be dodging any plates in the very near future. Karol was the first to try his meal; he added some ketchup himself since that's how he always liked having his omelettes. He took a little bit with his fork and took a bite. After a few seconds, he finished the rest of what was on the fork. "That's not too bad. Though I reckon I could still make a better one." Karol still gave a thumbs up with a smile regardless however.

_One down._

Rita was eating her rice balls slower than before, to help with manners obviously, but her reaction wasn't any different than before. So that's two people who don't mind so far. Next was the old man, who after his first bite, was eating his sushi at almost a rapid pace. It drew a quick smile from the echidna. One out of one for him so far.

Repede was eating his salad with no problem, but of course it was a bit harder to tell if he was enjoying it or not. Judith was eating her Japanese stew quietly. "Enjoying it?" The hedgehog asked her, which drew a soft smile from the krityan. "It's pretty good. With more practice it'll be better, but it's good for your first effort." The hedgehog grinned before pointing to the echidna. "Actually, my friend made it, so you can thank him for that."

Judith turned to the indigo echidna and gave him a smile. "Well then, thanks for the effort. You're a decent cook." Nexus smiled back. "Thanks." Estelle seemed to be enjoying her hot pot quite nicely, which brought a sigh of relief to the hedgehog. Three for three. So that left one more.

Yuri was eating his mabo curry quietly, his expression not changing as he ate. Estelle turned to him. "How is it? Do you like what our friend here did?" Yuri waited a few seconds before shrugging. "It's not bad. It's not perfect, but I can help him a bit with making it." The hedgehog nodded. "Sure thing Yuri. Aslong as it's not making you puke, I'm good." Yuri snickered at him. "Nah, it's good enough for your first attempt."

Joe and Nexus got to eating their own food, and unlike the hedgehog's first experience, they were both enjoying the food. Even if it was the food they were mostly used to eating back home. Karol decided to speak up as everyone had been a little quiet. "I think you should cook more often Joe. You seem pretty talented at this, learning all these recipes so quickly." The hedgehog laughed. "This is nothing compared to my fighting skills. Besides, it was probably just luck more than anything; I'm never gonna be a chef or anything."

"Don't put yourself down, you're very good at cooking!" The princess said with a little smile. "Thanks, but like I said, this is nothing compared to my fighting. Now that stuff is impressive." Rita rolled her eyes. "Looks like you two have competition." She said meaning Yuri and Judith. Judith smiled at the hedgehog before squeezing his cheek like he was a kid almost in a teasing way. "Such confidence."

Joe brushed her hand away with a snicker. "Hey, I've got a reason for that." Yuri looked up more interested in the conversation since fighting was brought up. "I don't know, the coliseum is a little tough the first time you go in there. The 200-Man-Melee wasn't that easy for any of us. Not to mention I heard they are gonna introduce new events soon."

The echidna looked up. "Well, Rita said she's gonna need a test subject for her little invention right? The coliseum would be the perfect place wouldn't it?" Joe frowned a little, not exactly liking being called a 'test subject', but understanding what he meant. Rita nodded while taking a bite out of another rice ball. "He's got a good point. Sure I need to run more tests to make sure it would work on him, but otherwise it should work."

Raven finished his sushi before bringing in his view. "We still need to go by Dahngrest and Torim first though. No offense to the kid, but these Leviathan Claw rumors are more important to get info on first considering everything that they did in the past." _Not to mention we haven't seen much of those two twins lately..._

"None taken." The hedgehog responded while taking another bit of chicken. Estelle and Yuri finished their dinner while the princess took their plates aswell as the old mans. "You haven't got to do that princess, we can clean up here." Nexus said to her which made her shake her head. "You did all this for us, we can at least clean up a little for you to thank you for it." Raven nodded. "Yeah, you did make all our favourite dishes after all, and they all tasted good too. You know how to make a good first impression."

Karol and Rita finished up and put their own plates in the little sink after Estelle. Judith was still eating while Repede had just finished his salad, and Yuri was almost done with his mabo curry. Estelle watched Yuri eating as she continued to think about her conversation with Judith earlier. _He's just eating. Yet I feel like I could watch him do it all day. And I admit I didn't feel as happy when he wasn't here, even if it would just be for days at a time. Though Flynn did keep me good company, and Rita always manages to cheer me up._

The princess remained in her thoughts until Yuri had finished up and Estelle took his plate with a smile, which was met with one from the ex-knight. _Is Judith right? _She quickly regained her train of thought as she took the plate to the sink. Judith finally finished herself and she again smiled at the echidna, although he wasn't looking at the time.

Everyone had put their plates and bowls in the sink and most of them had walked back outside for some fresh air while Joe, Nexus, Judith and Raven remained in the room. "You're a good cook kid. I think we're gonna get along just fine." The old man patted the hedgehog on the back, which drew a chuckle from him. "I guess we will."

Judith stretched a little which brought a few quick looks from them both while Nexus rolled his eyes at them. She decided to walk back outside before quickly stopping by them and smiled. "Thanks for the dinner, you do seem to have your heart in the right place." She said before placing a quick kiss on the hedgehog's cheek, which unbeknownst to him brought a small blush. Then did the same for Nexus, before turning to Raven who had shut his eyes and turned his cheek to her expecting the same.

She gave a grin before moving to his cheek and preparing to give him a quick kiss too, before quickly turning away and heading outside. It took the old man a few seconds to notice before he opened his eyes and slumped. "Judith, you're cold..." Joe snickered and this time he patted the old man on the back. "Looks like I'm winning so far aren't I?" Raven didn't move his head up but just raised his hand. "We've got plenty of time, don't you worry about that."

The old man slowly sulked outside before pretending to act like it didn't affect him like usual and gave a thumbs up with his usual wink before leaving the room and quietly shutting the door.

The echidna breathed in relief and turned for the dishes. "Well, thank god that went as well as it did. I guess you were right, cooking definitely does seem easier here. So I guess you're help me with the dishes then Joe?"

No answer.

"Joe?"

Nexus turned around to see the hedgehog doubled over holding his stomach which brought a quick state of shock, before it turned into a grin and a chuckle. "You hated it didn't you?"

"What the hell do you think?" The hedgehog wanted to throw up so badly, the rice balls he made sucked, but this was at least ten times worse. And this was food he loved back home. The echidna laughed again as he got started on the washing up. "So everyone enjoys the chefs cooking, except the chef himself. Can't wait to tell everyone that when we get back home." Joe stumbled for the bed before laying down still holding his stomach and shutting his eyes. He wanted the taste to go away as quickly as possible.

"So I take it you're never gonna cook for yourself again then?" Nexus asked with a quick snicker.

"Shut up..."


	9. Rumors and Findings

**_**Chapter 9: Rumors and Findings**_**

It took a while, but Dahngrest was finally shown in the distance. Joe stretched as he managed to recover from his (to himself at least) terrible cooking. He did get some time to himself to think about what to do while they were in Dahngrest. After all, they would be spending at least one night there after everyone would finish discussing the rumors that were going around.

"Not sure what to think if they were true. But then again, it's not like everyone here can't handle it. And what with us two being there, the more the merrier." But still, it wasn't like he wouldn't get restless at some point. But at least there was the taverns to suggest if everyone needed time to unwind. Plus it did give him one idea, but he would have to hope they had a way to play his music.

"How long have you been up?" He heard a voice call out to him. The hedgehog turned to see that Yuri was the source of the voice and he turned back around. "About half-an-hour or so. Needed some time to get over my damn cooking." The statement brought a chuckle from the ex-knight.

"Your friend told me about that. Pretty ironic since everyone else liked it."

"Of course he did. And I'm aware." The yellow hedgehog said in slight annoyance. Yuri stood next to him as they both looked out as they were getting closer to their destination. "Any idea how long we'll be there?" The hedgehog said as he stretched again with a yawn.

"Not sure, a day in the least. Like I said, these could be rumors and nothing more. It might only take a few minutes of our time if anything. Besides, you've still got Rita helping you out so the more time she has with you the better." The hedgehog didn't answer which prompted Yuri to continue. "If we do find out anything substantial, we'll obviously have to follow up on it. If there's nothing, we can still stay in the city for a while. And we'd be able to skip Torim if nothing comes out of it."

That brought the hedgehog back. "And that means I'll get some time in the Coliseum." Yuri tilted is head. "You seem to love fighting then."

"Love it. The strongest in the universe has to prove himself doesn't he?" The comment made Yuri roll his eyes. _And that was something else his friend told me about. The arrogance..._ "There are some tournaments going on now, so if nothing happens in Dahngrest, we can probably get something going there."

The hedgehog nodded with a grin. "Hopefully I'll be able to test Rita's invention out when I'm there." They were both interrupted by the cabin door opening with Judith appearing from it.

"How long?"

"About five minutes." The ex-knight said to her. "Our new friend here asked about our plans in Dahngrest and I said if nothing comes out of it there, we can skip Torim and head right for the Coliseum. That should be okay right?"

The krityan nodded with a smile. "Absolutely. Is our friend still interested in competing?"

Joe responded with a cocky smirk. "Of course I am, I have a reputation to uphold you know; being the strongest in the universe." Judith herself smirked and walked closer to the hedgehog. "The strongest are you? I would... _love _to see you prove it." She said while slowly moving a finger up and down the hedgehogs chest with a flirtatious grin.

The hedgehog smirked right back. "Oh I'll be more than happy to." He moved his face close to hers, the smirk not leaving his lips. "_More _than happy to." Judith giggled. "I look forward to seeing what you've got in the arena." She turned back for the cabin. "If you can keep up with me." She said with that flirtatious grin as she went back into the cabin.

Yuri snickered and shook his head. "Just so you know, she is way tougher than she looks." Joe turned to Yuri with a grin. "So am I."

After ten minutes had passed, they had landed and were now in Dahngrest. Joe was again listening to his iPod, so Nexus was the one speaking for them both until he decided that music was less important than everyone else's work. Karol then turned to address the group. "Alright, me and Raven will go HQ and ask Harry if he knows anything. You all can stay in the inn if you want."

"It'll be best for me, I need to run a few more tests on music lover here to see if this invention of mine will work with the aer he uses." Estelle looked around to the store. "I'm gonna go see if we can get some gels for our friends here." Nexus shook his head. "You don't have to do that, we can pay for our own. You buy gels for yourselves."

Estelle shook her head in protest. "But you need your money more than we do! We have more than enough to pay for you!" Nexus again shook his head at the princess. "Really, we appreciate the thought, but we've got enough. We saved some over the years from fights and stuff we've sold. We can manage." The princess' head lowered a little.

Yuri put his hand on Estelle's shoulder. "We know you care Estelle, but if they say they can manage, they can manage." _Yuri... _The princess thought to herself as she lowered her arms in defeat as the little guild leader spoke up again. "Well, if we're all set here, we can get moving!" Everyone except the hedgehog nodded in agreement as Estelle, Nexus and Yuri went for the store and Karol along with Raven left for the Guild HQ.

Rita turned to the hedgehog and pulled a headphone out of his ear to get his attention. "Come on you, we're going to the inn for more tests. You can listen to your crappy music later." She then grabbed Joe by the arm and dragged him to the inn to his annoyance. "You haven't got to drag me there like I'm a damn child, unless you want me to test out your invention on you. I've got no complaints on that." The mage shot him a death glare before continuing to the inn.

Judith giggled as she watched them both. "Kids these days." She then walked off to do her own things.

On their way to the HQ, Karol had spotted someone he thought he recognised and turned to Raven. "Hey Raven, you mind heading there without me for a bit? I... need to take care of something quickly." The old man raised an eyebrow, but shrugged. "Sure kid. But make sure you show up, won't do good for the guild otherwise." Karol nodded and smiled. "Thanks Raven, I'll be as quick as I can." And with that he ran off. Raven watched the kid run off before he shook his head and chuckled. "Not sure why the kid had to lie like that. But considering her, I can see why." He then continued for HQ.

Karol kept looking through the crowd, knowing he saw her. He hadn't seen her since he showed her the complete Monster Book to her, and he really needed to know what was wrong with her. Everyone else would see it as clear as day, but unfortunately the little guild leader still didn't get it. He kept looking around for her until he spotted that little ponytail on the top-side of her head. He would recognise that anywhere. He ran for it, hoping he'd catch her before she ran off to do something else. "Nan!"

The woman turned around, knowing that voice. "Karol?" She saw him running toward her from inside the crowd and he caught up to her, kneeling over to catch his breath. She didn't say anything until he looked up at her, the usual awkward feeling coming across them both.

"Nan..."

"Karol..."

They both looked around eachother, they had known eachother for some time, but for most of it they were enemies when the Hunting Blades went hunting for Entelexaia. Not to mention as she watched him grow into a leader, Nan's original distaste for him had subsided. Though in truth it wasn't because she hated him or anything, she knew what her feelings for Karol were, but she never had the strength to come out and say it.

She always gave out little hints during the 100-Man-Melee in Nordapolica to see if he would notice, but he was too clueless to put two and two together. Though Nan did blame herself for it too, since she was too weak to tell him how she felt. Not to mention she didn't even know if Karol felt the same. She knew he looked up to her a lot, and that he wanted to show her the Halure Tree in full bloom. She still hasn't seen it with him yet either, and having that knowledge now almost made her cry everyday, knowing how much he wanted to show it to her.

"So... how are you?" Karol asked awkwardly. Nan shuffled her feet as she pondered her answer. She had no idea why she had to, but because of everything, it might never be easy to talk to her former guild comrade again. "I'm fine... Everyone else is doing okay too. Though I haven't been needed as much when it comes to monsters, as they're all usually too weak to need the strongest guild members to deal with them." She kept her eyes to the ground as she talked. She was only like this when she was alone with Karol; if Clint and Tison were there, she'd be strong. But when alone with him...

"How about you Karol?" The guild leader looked at the floor too as he started to answer. "I'm okay... Just doing some guild work right now, going to check up on some rumors that have been floating around."

"Oh..." The mood really wasn't getting any less awkward, not to mention if they're not fighting, Nan didn't feel as strong-willed as she would be. But maybe it's just because she's alone with Karol. Maybe if she got to spend more time with him again... "Hey Nan?"

She abandoned her thoughts to look at the guild leader, trying to keep a strong face as he looked at her. "Would you... like to help us out on this little mission? If you want that is, I'm not forcing you or anything. It's just that I thought since you said you hadn't done any fighting in a while I thought that this might be a good time for you to-" He was cut off by Nan doing something she wasn't used to. She held a finger on Karol's lips to interrupt. And she was... smiling? "Sure Karol. I'll be happy to help. I'm sure Clint and Tison will allow me to join you for a while."

Karol hadn't seen Nan smile for a long time, she usually looked at him with distaste or nervousness. She looked... beautiful when she was smiling. And he didn't even notice, but he smiled the moment she said she would help. "T-Thanks Nan! I'll be sure to tell everyone else! I've got to get back to Raven at HQ, but we're staying here for at least one night, so we'll be at the inn if need to know where we are." He quickly had to turn and run for the HQ before calling out to her again. "Thanks again Nan!"

Nan watched him run off, that small smile still on her lips. It was the first loving smile she had given in a long time. "Karol..." She turned and headed for the Hunting Blades HQ, she knew she'd get permission to go. She had to. And she knew she would tell him sooner or later, and while she knew it wasn't enough yet, that little conversation did make her feel a little stronger about the whole thing.

_I'll see the tree with you... You've always wanted to show me... I'll make sure I see it with you Karol..._

Nan hadn't even noticed she was running for the HQ faster than she ever had before.


	10. The Invention

**_**Chapter 10: The Invention**_**

"Get your gloves off." Rita said, getting off her backpack and opening it, looking for something. The hedgehog raised an eyebrow. "Not exactly beating around the bush are you? If you wanted to sleep with me you could've just said-" Rita grabbed his shirt by the collar, fire in her eyes. "Stop thinking with your groin, you're lucky the old man and Estelle trust you. Now, get your gloves off." She let go of his shirt and went back to her backpack.

Joe chuckled to himself before sliding them off. "Give them to me." He complied and handed his black gloves to the mage. Rita put them in her backpack and started ruffling around inside it. "So, what're you doing?" The hedgehog asked her. "You'll see."

A few minutes later, she took his gloves out of his backpack, and they have a few upgrades. Rita's face beamed with pride. His gloves had a round jewel in the palm, with some metal connectors inside his gloves, with another jewel inside the glove. "Alright, put these on." Joe didn't look too impressed. "You basically added two marbles in them, how'll that help?" Rita's eye twitched a little.

" Put these on, and come with me, you'll see." Joe shook his head in annoyance and put his new gloves on. The jewels on the inside of his gloves felt a little weird on his hands at first, but if this helps him control his powers, anything will do. "So what now?"

"Like I said, come with me." Rita walked towards the inn door with the hedgehog following, and they went outside the city. "Okay, we're gonna test this out. There's a few monsters here, so just use some of your aer attacks against them, ending with your strongest one." Joe looked at her with a bit of concern. "You sure? What if I break these?" Rita smirked and winked. "Oh, these are tougher than you think. Just try them out."

Joe nodded his head and looked at the monsters. Nothing special, looked like bugs more than anything. _I know Rita's good, but I don't think the gloves will withstand everything I've got. Think I'll have to take this a bit easy... _He thought to himself as he held his hand out and shot out some energy blasts at the monsters, before dashing up to the last one and uppercutting it into the air. He gathered his energy into one of his hands, gathering it into a white and grey ball.

"Maximum..." He then shot his hand out and sent out the white energy beam heading right for the monster. "Flash!" The attack easily consumed the monster and obliterated it in an instant. The beam slowly disappeared, and Joe dropped his arm. This time though, he didn't have to catch his breath. Infact, he almost felt no different at all.

The yellow hedgehog looked at his gloves and noticed the jewel had a faint glow coming from it. Rita had a triumphant smile on her face. "They work even better than I imagined!" Joe looked at her perplexed. "What do you mean?" The mage took a victorious pose and began to explain. "The jewel in the machine is an aer conductor. Your aer goes through the wires in your glove that connects to the jewel, and it will amplify your aer attacks. It will also reduce your energy consumption by 70%. But don't push yourself, while it does dramatically decrease the consumption, big attacks like that one too many times will overexert yourself, and you'll be knocked out again probably."

Joe smirked to himself and looked at his new gloves. _More control over my moves. Now I really can't wait for the coliseum. _He thought to himself before Rita turned back for the city. "Come on, let's get back. I'll need to analyse the aer consumption of the jewel some more, and see if I can work on improving the results some more." They both headed back to the city, where they went straight for the inn, where everyone was inside, including Nan.

They all looked at Rita for the result of her invention. She gave a thumbs up, which pleased everyone, even Nan as the others updated her on the situation. "So, any news on those rumors?" Joe asked the old man, which suddenly brought a little frown to Raven's face. "Here's the strange thing, they've simply stopped. No one has seen anything related to Leviathan's Claw for weeks now. It's like they've all just disappeared."

Rita thought to herself. "You think they could've just hid somewhere?"

Raven shook his head. "Nah, one of our scouts would have found something. No one is THAT good at hiding. It seems that this was all just a false alarm."

Nexus stroked his goatee, since he knew the events of this world before him and Joe arrived, so he knew Leviathan's Claw wouldn't just disappear like nothing, they knew how to get around. Or maybe... it was true.

"So, that means we can head for the coliseum right?" Joe spoke up, not wanting to beat around the bush. Yuri shrugged with a laugh. "I guess so, since this went nowhere."

"Well we should at least stay here for the night, we did say we would anyway." Karol chipped in. "We can afford to pay for the extra guests." Everyone nodded before Judith went to pay for everyone. Shortly after she returned, with a cheeky grin on her face. "They said they don't have enough beds for us all, so we could either sleep on the floor, or two can sleep in a few beds."

A variety of expressions came upon everyone's faces.

Yuri and Nexus just shrugged.

Estelle, Karol and Nan all blushed like mad.

Rita had a look of horror.

Raven and Joe both cheered, obviously hoping they'd end up with Judith.

Repede's expression didn't change, he would be on the floor anyway.

That night, Yuri and Estelle slept in the same bed, which the princess had to admit, she was really hoping for. A loving smile crept onto her lips as she silently watched the ex-knight sleep. She closed her eyes shortly after. Nan and Karol were sleeping facing away from eachother, trying to avoid it being awkward. But it wasn't working that well, especially with how Nan felt.

Rita slept on her own, much to her joy. Judith was sleeping in the same bed as Nexus, that cheeky grin still on her face as she slept. Nexus didn't seem to know why she chose his bed, but just took it for what it was worth.

As for the last two...

"That Judith is cold, just ice cold."

"This wasn't my first choice either."

Those two were also in the same bed, and it couldn't have been more uncomfortable.

"I'm so gonna take this out in the coliseum." The hedgehog stated before trying to get to sleep.

"Cold. Just cold." Said Raven before he did the same.


	11. The Nordapolica Coliseum

**_**Chapter 11: The Nordapolica Coliseum**_**

It didn't take long for them to arrive, Joe wanted to run there. They arrived at Nordapolica and was greeted by Natz. They quickly explained the situation which luckily didn't have any problems, and they proceeded to the coliseum. After they settled in, Raven quickly left for the front desk to apply some of them for the tournament.

Joe and Nexus were checking their weapons, since they were definitely entering. Yuri and Judith were also preparing for the arena while Karol and Rita were sorting out their rooms in the inn. Estelle and Nan went to buy some more gels incase anyone got hurt during the fights.

Shortly after, Raven returned with some news.

"Alright kids, there's a few changes in the fighting challenges this year. There are still the 100-200 Man Melee fights, but now there are team battles where up to four people can team up, and there's still the tournament fights." A smirk crept on the hedgehog's lips. "Team battles? Well, I can guess I can let you three watch me beat everyone by myself." Nexus shook his head. "Whatever, it's a good idea nonetheless. Us four could be a formidable team."

"Aww, it's a shame. I was _really _looking forward to fighting our hedgehog friend here." Judith said with feign distress. Yuri simply shrugged. "Against eachother, teaming up, it doesn't matter to me. We'll win anyway." Raven gave his signature thumb-up. "The team battles start in five minutes, so you four better get to the arena."

Joe put his guns behind his jacket. "Alright, let's see what this place has got." Yuri, Nexus, Judith and Joe walked on for the arena, when Nexus felt a little... odd. Like someone was there, someone he knew. He didn't know exactly, but he just sensed it. It was nothing evil, but it felt... familiar. Yuri opened the arena doors and they proceeded to the arena floor.

The crowd erupted when they saw Yuri and Judith, they almost didn't seem to notice the other two, though they were grateful so no-one thought they were monsters. It was gonna be a team tournament of four rounds. Their opponents came out, they didn't look like much. Just four guys with normal weapons. Easy targets. Joe smirked and he walked ahead of the others.

"Just stand back here guys, let me show you the results of Rita's invention combined with the strongest of the universes' powers." Nexus facepalmed himself in annoyance while Yuri just shrugged. Judith cooed at the hedgehog to tease him. "Don't get hurt out there _little boy._" The announcer begun the match and Joe pulled out his guns following up with a dash right for their opponents.

He went between two guys and shot them right in the stomach (he obviously had to fit his guns with non-lethal pellets for this) followed by a low sweep, knocking them both down with no effort. Almost immediately he dashed to the third guy on the left and struck him with a few punches before kicking him in the ribs hard, sending the guy into the wall, taking him out.

The hedgehog landed on his feet then turned for the last guy, his spear trembling in his hands from the spectacle he just saw. He heard that the heroes were strong, but he didn't expect this. Joe smirked at him before dashing right to him and landing a punch into the guy's stomach, making him double-over, before landing a kick right to his jaw and sending him into the air.

"Watch this." The yellow hedgehog said before jumping into the air, making sure to jump high enough so he's above the last guy. He then quickly charged up an energy attack, again making sure it wouldn't be strong enough to kill, just knock him out from the impact. "Maximum Flash!" The white beam struck the guy head on and sent him crashing into the arena floor. Joe landed next to his now unconscious body.

"Easy. Didn't even have to use 1% of my power." The hedgehog said with an arrogant smirk. Nexus and Yuri shook their heads. Though Judith did give him a flirtatious smile. "Good work hedgehog, maybe we could actually have some competition." Joe smirked back at her.

"Wow ladies and gentlemen! This hedgehog showed some unbelievable speed and strength, taking out all of their opponents on his own in just a few seconds! This tournament is already heating up to be one of the most exciting we have ever seen!" The announcer shouted out to a roar from the crowd. They had easily advanced to the quarter finals. And three of them didn't have to do anything.

Back inside the coliseum, Joe continued to brag. "Maybe I should've just entered on my own." Yuri ignored him for the most part, while Nexus still had that odd feeling. _It couldn't be what I think it is. We're nowhere near our home. _They had to wait a while before the quarter finals began, so Yuri and Judith went over to practice their new techniques some more since they couldn't use aer without anything from Rita yet.

Nexus was checking his guns to make sure they still worked, and made sure he had his sword just incase he had to use it, though he would prefer it if he didn't. Joe meanwhile was just listening to his iPod. They did restock on gels just incase and Estelle wished them all the best of luck. They then entered for the quarter finals, which they again won with ease, aswell as the semi-finals.

"This is too easy. We'll be winning that grand prize with no effort at all." The hedgehog said with the upmost confidence. For once Nexus had to agree, they hadn't really put much effort into the tournament so far, Yuri and Judith looked like they hadn't got any rust from fighting without aer either.

That feeling though still hadn't disappeared, not to mention the talk of the crowd was that there was another really strong team in this tournament. It didn't put him at ease since while he was fairly agile and accurate with his weapons, he wasn't the fastest and strongest around, though he did have back-up anyway.

They were now getting ready for the finals. "This is it everyone, please be careful. And good luck!" Estelle shouted out to them which brought a wave from them all as they went through the doors. "I just hope my invention still works, there's no telling how much aer the jewel can take." Rita said to herself while watching them disappear behind the doors.

They made their way out into the arena, with the roar of the crowd welcoming them once more. They were the first out and they posed a little for the crowd, getting them ready. "And here we have Brave Vesperia! Their new members have proved to be a fantastic addition to the team so far, but will they help them reach the top? We'll soon find out!" They turned to see the others in the crowd and Joe gave them a thumbs up, letting them know there was no way they'd lose.

"But their opponents have also been very dominant so far, maybe even more so than Brave Vesperia! Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back... Sonic Team!"

Joe's and Nexus' eyes widened. "What?" They turned around in an instant, and they saw them. Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles and Rouge were there, also staring at the two people they thought had disappeared. "What're YOU doing here?" They shouted to eachother.

"Ladies and gentleman, both teams are now out, so let's get started!"

Yuri and Judith looked at them both with puzzled expressions. "Who are they? And why do they look familiar to you?" Joe and Nexus looked at eachother. "We'll tell you after. We have to fight for now." Joe put his guns back behind his jacket, that grin no longer on his face. "I get Sonic, no-one else." Nexus was aiming for Shadow, while Yuri eyed Knuckles, leaving the women to fight eachother.

Sonic turned to his friends. "I thought they disappeared." Shadow just shrugged. "It seems they know about the situation aswell." Knuckles just punched his knuckles together. "Doesn't matter now, let's win this tournament!" Rouge nodded before looking at the krityan. They all got ready, Yuri readying his sword, Judith her spear and Nexus his guns. Joe didn't take out his guns, he was gonna be using his own skill this time.

He was focused on Sonic, no-one else. They all took their battle stances, this was going to be a serious one. Even Joe knew he couldn't hold anything back here, as Sonic was the first to beat him in a fight so far, a fact he hates to admit, even though they are friends. They all got ready, just waiting for the announcer, the crowd roaring with anticipation.

"FIGHT!"

They all dashed for eachother, Joe and Sonic getting ready to meet eachother in the middle of the arena.

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><p><strong><em>And that's all the chapters I've done so far. Please let me know what you think. I don't mind critique either. I'll get more chapters up whenever I can. Thanks for reading if you do.<br>_**


	12. The Finals

**_**Chapter 12: The Finals**_**

Nexus shot at Shadow, aiming to get a stun bullet on one of his legs but Shadow was naturally too quick, dodging with ease. He reached Nexus and threw a kick, which the indigo echidna ducked under and gave a kick of his own which Shadow dodged and they traded punches. Yuri and Knuckles charged at eachother, Knuckles throwing punches rapidly as Yuri tried to block with his sword, but he had to jump back a few times, unprepared for this assault.

_He's not just strong, but fast too. This won't be as easy as we thought. _Yuri had to work quick here, so he prepared a Tiger Blade which managed to his the echidna on the mark, sending him back a little. "What the...? What was that move?" Yuri smirked at him. "I'm a lot different than I appear aren't I?" Knuckles growled and punched the ground, sending a shockwave towards Yuri. It was too fast for him and that him him head-on, this time sending Yuri back.

Rouge was kicking wildly, and Judith was trying hard to block them all. This wasn't anything like their previous battles. Even Zagi and Duke weren't like this. Judith had to use a Crescent Moon to make the bat back off. Rouge backed away before instantly carrying on with her barrage of kicks. Judith had to think of something else to get the bat away. Maybe she had to wear her out, just try to block all her attacks, and then she can strike while the bat is exhausted. She grinned as she put the little plan into action.

Joe and Sonic were trading punches too fast for anyone to see. Their usual grins were gone as they just focused on each other. They were blocking everything they threw at each other, and whenever they pushed each other back, they dash right back at each other. "You don't know how much it kills me that my first loss was to you." Sonic responded with a laugh. "Oh I do, and I can't wait for your reaction when you're 0-2 against me." The colbat hedgehog said before getting a punch through and hitting Joe square in the jaw, sending him back a little.

The yellow hedgehog responded by shooting a quick Maximum Flash which the other hedgehog barely dodged in time, but Joe quickly dashed forward and landed a punch into Sonic's stomach, and then hit him with a kick to the side of the head, sending the blue hedgehog into the arena wall.

Nexus was having trouble with Shadow, the hedgehog was too fast for him, not to mention he could pull off Chaos Control, so there was at least one Chaos Emerald here. He was shooting at Shadow whenever he could, but the hedgehog just dodged with ease and kicked the echidna in the side of the head, staggering him.

Shadow then quickly took advantage and threw punches aiming for Nexus' face, hitting them all before kicking him in the side of the head again. This time Nexus went into the wall and he fell to the floor. He tried to get up, but Shadow was much stronger than he looked. He couldn't get up, so he stayed down, the first person eliminated.

Judith was shocked, she didn't think they would be 3-4 down already. But luckily, her plan seemed to be working. Rouge's kicks were slower and easier to read, Judith grinned as she managed to duck a kick and landed another Crescent Moon, this time connecting with Rouge's jaw, sending her to the ground. The bat's exhaustion proved to be her downfall, as she was too tired to stand. She was the second to be eliminated.

Knuckles and Yuri still seemed evenly matched, they couldn't pull off many shots on each other, but the shots they did take were powerful. Yuri tried a Shining Fang which Knuckles barely blocked, but then Yuri followed it up with a Brutal Fang which managed to hit the echidna. Judith then came in and added more damage with a Moonlight Havoc, but without their blastia, these moves took more out of them than it used to, and Judith was already catching her breath after the move.

Knuckles took advantage by forcing Yuri to jump back and hit Judith with everything he had, striking her with full-force, sending her back and onto the floor. She staggered onto her feet. "Not... against... you..." She then crumpled onto her knees and fell onto the floor. Brave Vesperia only had two people left now.

Yuri had to be quick about this. He charged and hit Knuckles in the back with a Shining Fang and a Brutal Fang one after the other and then finishing with a Tiger Blade, which sent the echidna crashing to the ground. Yuri had put just about everything into his combo, and he had to hope that was enough to keep Knuckles down. Knuckles didn't get up; he almost looked like he was knocked out. Yuri had to catch his breath quickly, they were even again. But the two most dangerous opponents were left.

Sonic and Joe were again trading blows, both of them were throwing everything they could at each other, but neither were about to back down. Joe was kicking for the blue hedgehog but Sonic was able to dodge them all to Joe's chagrin. Yuri turned in time to see Shadow aiming a kick for the ex-knight, which he barely managed to duck before he blocked the follow-up kick with his sword.

Yuri was exhausted from his combo against Knuckles, but he still had to fight. Shadow was faster with his strikes but Yuri refused to quit. He had a split-second to react when he hit Shadow with a Brutal Fang, putting as much as he could into it. Shadow shouted out from the impact, but he managed to land on his feet, albeit with a bit of a stagger. Shadow growled at the ex-knight and opened up his end. "Time to put you to rest..." Yuri looked up with surprised eyes. "You too...?"

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow shouted out, sending three spears out heading towards the ex-knight. Yuri managed to block one of them, but he was too slow to block the others as they hit him, sending him staggering back. It was taking all of his strength to stay standing, and that brought a surprised look to the black hedgehog's face. "Impressive. You're not an ordinary human are you?"

Yuri grinned in defiance. "And you're not just a hedgehog either." Shadow dashed forward and threw some more punches, this time all hitting Yuri as he was too exhausted to block them. All of his punches struck hard, sending Yuri right into the wall as Shadow continued his assault. The black hedgehog started to grow frustrated as Yuri still didn't go down, it was almost like he was too stubborn to go down.

Joe and Sonic were staring each other down again, both catching their breath from their barrage of attacks to each other. Suddenly, Joe pulled his arm back and shot one of his signature moves. "Maximum Flash!" Sonic managed to jump out of the way, but the blast unintentionally managed to strike Shadow after he jumped back from Yuri. The blast almost consumed the black hedgehog as he suffered the attack. The blast dispersed as Shadow staggered infront of Yuri, looking up at him. "Darn it... I should have been... paying attention..." He fell to one knee but used all his strength to get back up, before Yuri struck him using the last of his own strength, taking them both down.

The crowd were roaring with cheers for both teams, it was now one-on-one. Joe and Sonic stared each other down, before Sonic's signature grin appeared on his lips. "What's so funny?" Joe asked him. "You noticed Chaos Control right?" The yellow hedgehog nodded. "We don't just have one emerald here."

Sonic crossed his arms over his face. "We've got all seven here." He then gathered his power, and with a loud scream, he transformed into Super Sonic before the crowds eyes. Sonic opened his eyes and looked at the now second yellow hedgehog, again grinning at him. "So, how about it? Ready to go 0-2 against me?"

Joe clenched his fists. "Looks like I finally get to prove to you I'm the strongest in the Universe." He got into his charging pose and gathered his power, the arena floor began to rumble as he growled. The crowd were almost starting to panic as they saw nothing like this since Taraquon. "Wow ladies and gentlemen! One of them has transformed and the other is powering up! This could be the most exciting final in years!" The announcer boomed as Joe raised his head and screamed as his power continued to rise. Super Sonic watched, ready for anything. Everyone else in Brave Vesperia had a look of shock on their faces when watching Joe charge up. "T-This kid is unbelievable! How much aer does he have in his body?" Raven shouted out. Rita couldn't believe it. "I don't know if my invention can take this much aer! Why didn't he tell us about this power he has?"

Joe screamed at loud as he could as he finished his charging, a golden aura glowing around him, as well as Super Sonic. "Alright Sonic, you've got me at full power. Now you'll see why I'm the strongest in the Universe." Sonic got himself in a battle pose, as well as Joe. Sonic grinned at him. "Ready for Round Two?"

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><p><strong><em>Okay, I'm sorry that the action scenes are terrible. And that they're going into DBZ territory. Let's just say my fancharacter is a semi-parody of fancharacters in general. Anyway, you don't have to worry, I won't do that many action scenes so you won't have to wonder how much worse they can get. And no, my character isn't the "Strongest in the Universe", not even close. He just thinks he is. But the second chapter briefly explains that. <em>**

**_Hope you enjoyed reading everything so far, remember to review if you can.  
><em>**


	13. Joe vs Super Sonic

**_**Chapter 13: Joe vs Super Sonic**_**

The crowd became silent as they watched the two hedgehogs, both at full power, staring each other down. Then in the blink of an eye, they were trading punches and kicks faster than everyone could see. Flashes kept appearing in the arena as they dashed around and collided with each other, the crowd roared with approval as the fight waged on.

Joe dashed back and shot several energy blasts at the other hedgehog but Super Sonic dodged them with ease before he charged at him, gathering energy for a Super Charge. However Joe moved out of the way and aimed another Maximum Flash for the super powered hedgehog, Sonic managed to charge out of the way and they both charged at each other yet again and traded attacks.

While they were both at full power, they both had one advantage over the other; Joe was stronger, but Sonic was faster. Super Sonic managed to get a punch in and it sent the hedgehog right into the arena wall at full force. Joe took a few seconds to gather his bearings before opening his eyes and grit his teeth. He then blasted out of the wall and charged for Super Sonic, landing a punch of his own into the stomach of the super hedgehog.

Sonic coughed up a bit of blood; the punch was much harder than he thought it would be. He was then met with a kick from Joe and this time he was sent into the arena wall. As Super Sonic crashed the other hedgehog followed right behind him, delivering more punches. Joe was aiming everywhere, but obviously not planning to kill the hedgehog; all he had to do was knock him out or make sure he was too exhausted or hurt to stand.

Sonic grunted and groaned with every punch he took, he couldn't take a lot of this, even in his super form. He had to do something. He opened one eye and waited for an opening. Joe brought his fist back for a big punch, and then Sonic struck with a hard kick to the side of the head. Now it was Sonic's turn to bring in a barrage of punches and kicks, hitting Joe with everything he had. He wasn't as strong as him but he was faster, so more attacks in a shorter time.

Joe couldn't defend himself as he suffered this assault from the super powered hedgehog, his back eventually ended up against the wall as Sonic was still hitting him. He tried to hold on before he eventually caved into the wall, Super Sonic was relentless and wasn't going to stop. Sonic kept striking and then he quickly dashed back and went into the other yellow hedgehog with a Super-Charged Homing Attack, sending him further into the wall.

Super Sonic landed on the floor, catching his breath a little, but he also got ready because he knew it wasn't over yet. Joe broke out of the wall with a loud yell as he put his hands by the left side of his head. Sonic grinned at him. "Galick Gun? You know you're leaving yourself open right?" Joe didn't say anything as he gritted his teeth and charged up. The grin disappeared from Sonic's face as he watched him; he didn't seem to be bluffing. Was he really that stupid?

"Galick..." Super Sonic's eyes widened as he dashed right for the hedgehog and threw a punch but then Joe disappeared into thin air. Sonic looked around for him and he couldn't see anything, but then he heard a sound and turned around, and saw Joe right in front of him, still charging up his attack. Sonic's eyes widened as even from this distance his speed wouldn't be able to dodge in time.

"GUN!" Joe shot his Galick Gun and it engulfed Super Sonic completely and it sent him into the other side of the arena. Brave Vesperia were in shock from what they were seeing, this was unreal. From all this aer he was bringing out, all their hard work could be undone. That's what they thought anyway. Rita was also wondering how her invention would hold out under this kind of power.

Joe was still holding his attack on Sonic as he held his power into it, Sonic screamed in pain as the attack continued to engulf him. Even his super form had its limits, as well as his opponent. But right now he was pushing his threshold for pain, and he couldn't take much more of this unless he did something. He opened an eye as he looked at the other hedgehog. The attack was starting to weaken a little, he was getting tired too.

Sonic had to just hold out for as long as he could, his Super form would help with that, hopefully it would be enough. He gritted his teeth and resisted the pain as much as he could. Joe knew he couldn't hold his attack forever, so he had to end it before he knocked himself out, or worse; killed Sonic. He gradually let the attack disperse and soon it disappeared completely. Sonic was embedded into the wall.

He put his hands on his knees to catch his breath; Rita's invention seemed to work, but even attacks like that are still going to come with a price. Joe raised his head to look at the super powered hedgehog in the wall. Sonic slowly fell out of it, landing on his hands and knees, groaning as he tried to stand. "Stay down Sonic... you know you can't take much more..."

Sonic raised his head, and a grin appeared on his face. "Neither can you..." Joe clenched his fists as he slowly and somewhat unwillingly dropped to one knee as well. _D-Damn... I guess I over-estimated Rita's invention... Put too much into that move... _Both hedgehogs were breathing hard, exhausted from pushing themselves too hard too quickly.

Super Sonic was the first to his feet as he stumbled over to the other hedgehog, his vision starting to blur a little. _Need to end this... N-Now... _Joe slowly got to his feet too and watched the super powered hedgehog stumble towards him. He got himself ready as he was starting to get dizzy, he never pushed himself this hard before.

Sonic pulled a fist back and landed a punch right to the other hedgehog's jaw as he stumbled back. Joe then sent out his fist and landed a punch to Sonic's face, making him stumble back too. They both traded these slow punches; both sides of the arena cheering whenever one of the hedgehogs struck the other.

Super Sonic was preparing for his seventh punch when his worst nightmare happened; he suddenly lost his super form. "N-No... Out of r-rings..." He was then met with Joe's fist one more time and he fell back, landing on his stomach. Joe could barely stand as he prayed Sonic would stay down now. The blue hedgehog put his hands on the floor as he started to push himself up, refusing to fall, the hero he was.

Joe watched him, shaking his head. He didn't want Sonic to get up, because if they kept going they might kill each other. Sonic got onto his hands and knees as he looked up at the yellow hedgehog and grinned at him, before closing his eyes and falling back to the floor. He was down. The arena was silent for a few moments. "..."

"W-Wow, ladies and gentlemen! Both teams have left it all in the arena, but only one team could be the winners! And that team is... Brave Vesperia!" The crowd erupted with approval for both teams as they cheered and applauded the incredible battle they just saw. Joe slowly grinned as he took in the crowd and looked down at Sonic. "T-Told you I... was the... strong..." Joe then slowly fell back onto the floor; he was out cold too.

The rest of Brave Vesperia jumped down into the arena to get their team-mates. Estelle looked at the Sonic Team with a concerned look on her face before Rita called her over to help carry their team into the inn. After they left, Tails and the others ran in to get Sonic Team to the inn as well. Robotnik scratched behind his head nervously. "This is going to be awkward..."

A few hours had passed before Yuri woke up; his body hurt, but in terms of health he was recovered. Estelle was right by his side and she put her hand on his. The ex-knight turned to the princess. "Estelle?" She nodded and smiled at him. "I'm glad to see you're awake." A look of concern suddenly took over. "How are you feeling?" Yuri smiled at her and winked. "My body hurts a bit, but I'll live."

The princess smiled and gripped his hand a little tighter unknowingly. Yuri rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Did we win?" Estelle nodded which made Yuri lie back down in his bed. "That's good. I probably would feel a lot worse if we still lost." Estelle giggled as she watched the ex-knight relax. "Rita is checking her invention right now. There was a lot of aer coming from our new friend, and she is checking to see if her invention can handle it."

Yuri raised an eyebrow at the princess before closing his eyes a little to relax. Judith was already up in her bed, with Raven right by her side. She paid him no mind as she expected this from him, which brought a small smile to her lips. Karol and Nan were watching over Nexus, who was sitting up in his bed, rubbing the side of his head. "That kick hurt like hell..." Nan looked over his bruises. "I'm surprised you took them how you did, a normal monster would have fallen in an instant."

Nexus frowned a little. "I'm not a monster." Nan shook her head in protest. "Sorry, I didn't mean it that way." The echidna raised his hand. "Nah, it's fine, I know. Shouldn't have said that." He sighed as he looked at Karol. "Guess we have some explaining to do don't we?" Karol slowly nodded. "Why lie?"

Nexus sighed again. "None of you would have probably believed us. But, we'll wait for the others to be up and about before we can explain. Though me and Joe do need to know how they got here themselves." Karol raised an eyebrow. "You mean you're not from this world?" Nexus nodded. "Yeah, kinda. But we'll explain when everyone is up." Karol nodded slowly in response.

Rita tinkered with Joe's gloves as he started to stir. She didn't bother to look at him as he opened his eyes. "Hey..." The mage didn't reply as she focused on her work. "Guess I overdid it huh?" Still no reply. "Guess I'll need to explain how me and my friend look like them." Rita still said nothing as she overlooked the hedgehogs gloves. "Sorry for pushing your invention so hard, guess I over-"

This time Rita cut him off. "What were you thinking? Bringing out all that aer! All our hard work could have been undone because of what you did! Not to mention you might have broken this thing! That's gratitude for you!" Joe sat up slowly, closing his eyes. "Rita-"

The mage cut him off again. "Shut up! I don't want to hear it! I'll fix this thing because Estelle said you would be helpless otherwise if you took on a powerful monster, but that's the ONLY reason!" The hedgehog sighed. "If you'll let me-"

Once more. "I said shut up! I can't believe you did this! If you brought the Adephagos back, we would all have been-"

This time the hedgehog cut her off. "I couldn't have brought it back even if I did want to. I don't use aer." Rita looked at the hedgehog dumbfounded. "Of course you use aer, otherwise my invention wouldn't work." The hedgehog shook his head. "I'm not sure how you did it, but it doesn't matter if I use aer or not, it still works fine. Unless I push myself too hard like I did in the arena."

Joe sighed before opening his eyes. "When the others wake up, we'll explain everything to you. Though there has to be a reason they are here too, since we're not from this world after all." Rita said there dumbfounded, just staring at the hedgehog as he laid back down in his bed and put his hands behind his head. Raven then walked by and stood by the bed. "How're you feeling kid?"

The hedgehog yawned with a wince, which hurt his pride a little. "I've felt worse. But I pushed myself too hard I guess." The old man gave him a thumbs-up before getting a concerned look on his face. "You shouldn't push yourself like that kid. I know winning is important, but don't kill yourself doing it. Trust me on that. Not to mention all the aer you give off could potentially-"

Joe raised his hand to politely interrupt. "Raven, me and my friend will be able to explain everything when the others are up. They're here in the inn too right?" Raven reluctantly nodded his head. "Don't say anything to them yet, me and Nexus will explain to them what's happened. Though they owe us an explanation too as to why they're here."

The old man nodded before sitting down on the bed and facing the mage. "How's your gadget doing?" Rita turned to them both with a slightly saddened face before turning back to her invention. "It's slightly damaged, but it's nothing I can't fix. I think I'll need to refine it some more though." The hedgehog yawned a little before smiling. "I think I know some people who can help with that."

* * *

><p><strong><em>I know, horrible action scenes with DBZ elements. But now the crossover really begins. This story seems to be much bigger than just their two worlds...<em>**

**_Review if you can, I look forward to what you think. Leave critisism too if you like. No flames though obviously._**


	14. Virus? Or Weapon?

**_**Chapter 14: Virus? Or Weapon?**_**

Something weird has been happening the past few weeks. Okay, weird to me anyway. To the people I know, this is almost everyday life. It all started about a fortnight ago; crime had dramatically decreased, and the gangs were learning their place in the city. The police had power again, for better or worse. Of course, I did the hero stuff usually.

I was jumping over the rooftops; that never gets old for me. But something felt... odd; I sensed something that felt like it didn't belong. And trust me, that means a lot if you've seen what I've gone through. I didn't mind the decrease in crime; it gave me more time to explore the city and screw around. But I didn't expect something like this to be the reason for it...

I followed my senses and found something on a rooftop. It wasn't pretty; it looked like someone has been stabbed five times. The wounds were in a circle; almost like someone's fingers had pierced their skin. There was blood over most of his torso, and his neck was clearly broken. Maybe the killer got bored of waiting and simply sped up the guy's death.

I did recognise the colours of his clothes though. He wasn't an innocent victim or anything; he was a gang member. There were some shell casings on the rooftop. I guess the guy was too fast even for bullets. That kind of thing doesn't surprise me anymore; I've seen several things survive bullets. But even the worst things I've seen do not leave this much violence on their victims. They usually just kill them quickly, or disintegrate them.

While I'm not complaining about there being one less gang member in the world, it worried me a little. There was something else on his corpse; a black and red substance. And it was pulsing; it looked _alive._ I should have just gathered it into a jar or something and see if anyone could figure this out, but nope. I reached my hand out to try to touch it. Clever, huh?

I got a little bit of the substance on the tip of my fingers, but it continued to pulse. And then it started to crawl up my fingers, and start to move up my arm. I immediately shook it off and stamped on it repeatedly. Again, probably not the smartest thing to do. It was at this point my phone rang, so I pressed the answer button.

"Hey man. What's up?"

"Glad you called, I found something here. A gang member's been murdered."

"Murdered? Why's that so special? One less bad guy in the world right?"

"That's not the thing that bothers me. It's _how _he was murdered."

"What do ya mean bro?"

"Hold on, I'll send a picture to you, you'll see."

I sent the picture to him and met back up with him at our little hideout. He didn't have a clue what was up either, though he told me he heard rumours of some strange killings recently. Telling me earlier would have been nice, but whatever. We asked some of our sources who tried to find information, but most of it came up blank.

A few weeks passed and the killings did continue, but they all seemed to be against gang members. The police almost didn't care, nor did the public. They weren't suffering, why should they try to stop it right? A few more rumours started that this came from another city or something like that, but we didn't want to take anything for granted.

The past two weeks have been following this little trail the killer has been leaving. It looks like he or she is making mistakes; making it clear where they're going, or looking a little sloppy with their kills. And then one day, my best friend told me that the killer had just struck again. And he or she was close to where I was. This was my chance. I jumped over the rooftops and eventually I heard a scream.

Was it a fresh kill? I jumped over to the location of the scream and landed into an alleyway. It didn't help that it was dark right now; maybe that was the killers plan. I stood up and saw a gang member fall to the floor; his body was almost cut in two...

And then what I saw actually scared me. The killer picked his victim back up and then some tendrils appeared from his or her body and started _absorbing _the body. The killer sighed in relief when it was over; a male sigh. So I know the gender at least. I prepared myself, before the killer shocked me yet again.

"It took you long enough to find me."

"Who... Who are you? _What _are you?"

The killer turned around to face me. He looked... human. But looks are obviously deceiving.

"I am..."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Okay, I know this chapter is very short. And it's in a POV style. This is part of the story, but I want to bring in one of the worlds I'm also gonna crossover. This bit is a crossover of two worlds in itself. I did blatantly make it a little mysterious, though I'm sure you all will guess who the 'killer' is by what I've written at the end. But the person it's following is less obvious. If you can guess who they are, that's great, let me know who you think it is in a review. If you decide to review it anyway.<br>**_

**_I'll reveal them in the future obviously. Also, apoligies for the lateness of this. I will try to not take over a week to submit another chapter. And a short one at that._**


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